Do It Yourself: Rainbow Swirl Marble Cake!

February 22, 2012

I would.

I haven’t stopped cooking or eating, but I have been bad about reporting back. Some things, you can’t NOT report. And this is one of them.

When Sam asked me what I wanted to do for Valentine’s Day, of course I said, “Eat!” Later I became a little more articulate and asked if he would make a steak dinner with roasted potatoes. And so he did!

Ask and ye shall receive.

Yes, Sam provided me with a saucer of ketchup for the potatoes (and a GIANT bottle of ketchup to keep refilling the saucer). And he had a mug of tea. And in case you were wondering, he broiled flank steak that had been marinated in balsamic vinaigrette (yes– salad dressing). It was DELICIOUS.

I didn’t want to take take take without bringing anything to the table (literally and figuratively), so I volunteered to make dessert. Sam requested marble cake, and I decided to add a twist (pun?) by secretly making it a rainbow-colored cake. And by doing some spiffy decorating, if I do say so myself.

Pro-tip: Duncan Hines is the only brand that makes packaged marble cake, and I was only able to find it at Von’s, in my neighborhood. I mean, you can make it from scratch or with two mixes, but time was of the essence so I was glad to find the easy version. I also found a big bag of discount candy hearts! (We celebrated the Saturday after Valentine’s, because weekends are more conducive to food-making.)

Ready... set... cake!

I also had to add vegetable oil and eggs, but I already had them so they’re not in the picture. The best thing about cooking is that it begets more cooking because you have the ingredients lying around.

So I mixed the cake (just by hand… for the last time, because the next day I bought an electric mixer!) ($6 at Target), and then deviated from the box by separating all the non-chocolate batter and mixing food coloring into it. I wanted to vaguely approximate the colors of the candy hearts, which would also work as Easter colors, in the coming months. (This was inspired by Whitney’s rainbow cupcakes.)

Fun with pastels.

The food coloring box tells you how many drops to use to dye a WHOLE cake, so I just divided the drops by some common denominator (math in real life!). Like I think the purple was 24 red and 16 blue? So I just divided by 8 and did 3 red and 2 blue? But then it looked pink so I kept adding that same ratio until it looked more distinct. (Ultimately I can’t really see the distinction, but that’s life.)

Then I glooped the colors into my 9-inch pans.

Pretty pretty.

My miscalculation was that I would be swirling a LOT more chocolate in than I realized. It kinda overwhelmed the colors. ALSO, I think the “white” cake was actually yellow? I think Whitney used white cake batter with a lot more saturated color (and gel food coloring, if I remember correctly), so… yeah, you’ll see that my colors got a bit lost in translation. (Also the two layers’ colors somehow aligned, so it looked less multicolored overall, I guess.)

Slight color issues are really the best mistake that could have happened… better than the cake not coming out of the pan. Or the cake getting crushed as I drove it to Sam’s place. Like, the cake came out more-or-less great, given how many things could have gone wrong.

And at least the swirl looked pretty cool.

I forgive you for pooping on my rainbow.

Although, as I said, once it baked the colors looked a little less colorful… on the outside, at least.

Baked.

For a scary moment after the layers cooled for a bit, they didn’t seem like they wanted to come out of the pan in one piece. It took a bit of coaxing, and with one exception all was well. But I was sort of glad for the little hole, because it gave me a color preview. And a default bottom layer.

Inner beauty.

I closed up the hole after I took the picture. So it really could have been the top layer. A pretty lucky pan-removal process, overall.

And then… I set to frosting.

Hamburger?

I like that the marble swirl left an image on the first plate. Once I’d frosted everything except the top, I free-handed a heart with the strawberry frosting. Then I carefully filled in the rest of the top with the chocolate.

Heart flavored.

I had debated frosting the whole cake with strawberry, but I’m glad I didn’t because it has this weird, sweet flavor that’s almost medicine-y? It tastes okay in a childhood memory kind of way, but not in an actually delicious way? Maybe it tastes like toothpaste? I don’t know, it grew on me. But when I first smelled it I was not a fan.

And then I debated just leaving the cake the way it was because it had a simple, chic thing going. But then I was like– wait a second, candy hearts are the REASON FOR THE SEASON.

A heart made of hearts.

I gotta say, I remember candy hearts having more/better phrases? And happy faces? These candy hearts had a bit of a “throw the rejects into the bulk bag” feel, but I found enough winners to line my heart.

The really worrisome part was transporting the cake, especially because I had to pack it up soon after I frosted it. Luckily about 15 minutes in the fridge hardened the frosting enough that it was not marred when I carefully packed the cake in tinfoil.

I expected Sam to be shocked and awed when he cut open the cake and saw the big rainbow “surprise,” but he was pretty even-keeled about it… probably because the colors were swirled/muted. (Also… he’s a guy. They are fairly immune to rainbow surprises. I figured he’d be more surprised/amused that I’d actually made the attempt.) I actually think I could have saved myself some dishes and just done one or two colors, but– go big or go home. Right?

Somewhere, eating the rainbow.

As for the cake– it tasted really good. I ate it the next day, and the day after, and it retained its moisture well.

Hopefully this is the first of many colorful baked goods to come…

xoxo…

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BYOB: Bring Your Own Bags

January 25, 2012

ChicoBags-- I'm a sucker for the pretty stuff.

Just as I advocate buying reusable snack bags (mine are from Snack Taxi and PB Green Bags), I’m also a big fan of bringing my own bag to the grocery store. It’s a pretty common practice in LA (and hopefully where you live)– one of the very few things that makes me feel hopeful that the world is not completely going into the gutter.

There was a period of time when I’d go home to visit my family and my mom would inundate me with new grocery bags, mostly from chain grocery stores. I would try to use them, but often I’d forget my bags in the trunk– or, if I used them, I’d forget to put them BACK in my trunk. And when I walk to the store from my apartment, carrying a bunch of big bags can be quite unwieldy– especially if you don’t end up using all of them. (Or have to walk past an upscale restaurant’s outdoor seating area and don’t want to look 100% dorky.)

And sometimes I just end up randomly at the grocery store, completely on the fly– say, while walking back from the Post Office. (I go to the grocery store almost every day– I’m not really a long-term planner when it comes to my food-shopping.)

Enter a few bags that are so small that you can carry them around in your purse… or your glove compartment… or on your belt loop.

I was first introduced to ChicoBags when I was at Sam’s place and we were headed out to the store to buy ingredients for dinner. “Here,” he said, tossing over a palm-sized little bundle. (Maybe I swooned a little– guys who care about the environment are sexy.) I was so impressed at their portability and function (and adorable designs) that I bought a few online. (Sam’s are just solid colors, for the less flashy set.)

ChicoBags are attached to the little bag that holds them, so you don’t have to worry about losing the container bag. And they come with a carabiner, so you can attach them to anything! The snowman one was a freebie when I ordered the others, and was described as a “gift bag.” Sometimes I worry that sharp things (like box corners) are going to poke holes in it, but the others (yet unused) seem to be made of a slightly sturdier material.

I also think the Valentine’s Day ones would make great gifts. (And I just spoiled a few of my Valentine’s Day gifts… great.)

Probably my favorite bag in rotation right now is my Baggu, a gift from Serious Eats when I pre-ordered their book.

Threw in my sunglasses for scale.

I could just as easily throw a ChicoBag into my purse, but for some reason the Baggu keeps making the cut. Maybe because it folds up really flat. (In February I’ll throw the Valentine’s ChicoBag into rotation.) (Honestly, if I had a bigger purse I’d carry two– I always seem to bring one bag and need two.)

The Baggu sometimes confuses grocery store employees. I think it’s a little shallower than a normal bag? But it holds a lot of volume length-wise, and you can carry it over your shoulder. (I don’t think you can do that with smaller ChicoBags, but they sell bigger ones… the snowmen can do shoulder.)

The one downside of the Baggu is that I’m constantly worried I’ll lose its pouch, because it’s completely detached. If I lose the pouch, I guess I could use a Ziploc bag… but that’s not as fun.

The best thing about using a Baggu or a ChicoBag or a cloth bag or a reusable Ralph’s bag with a kooky Hollywood logo on it (thanks, Mom) is that it makes you feel cool (well, maybe not the kooky Hollywood bag)– hey, I’m doing something for the Earth! And other people will see you and go– that’s a good person. Maybe they’ll give you a validating thumbs-up. Maybe they’ll give you their number! (If you want it.)

And– oh yeah– your apartment won’t be overflowing with little plastic bags. (I try to re-purpose the ones I DO have as trash bags.)

What are your favorite reusable grocery bags?

xoxo…

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DO IT YOURSELF: Rice & Veggie Stir-Fry

January 24, 2012

Looking pretty legit for a slapdash affair.

As I stated in the aforementioned post (which I literally wrote, like, 5 seconds ago), I’m dealing with the annoying realization that most of the Lean Cuisines I would normally bring to work are currently verboten, as they contain dairy. (And I’m not really PROUD of bringing Lean Cuisines, but I got into a too-lazy-to-cook rut.)

I’m sick of buying expensive commissary lunches and I needed to get back in the cooking groove anyway, so I decided to cook something veggie-full that I could kind of improvise for dinner/tomorrow’s lunch (of course, that involves willpower… can’t eat it all at dinner).

I was reading some gluten-free website about what you can cook for dinner, and there was a lot of talk of whipping up rice-based dishes. Now, I’m not trying to be gluten-free right now because A) I never got my Celiac test results, so they’re probably negative (?) and B) If I cut out gluten and dairy all at once… too many variables. But my mind kept going to a veggie & rice stir-fry… I remember at least one of my former roommates making similar dishes, and it seemed doable.

Since I MIGHT still find out that I AM gluten-sensitive, and since I should probably cut back a bit on the gluten just for kicks, I am trying not to stock up on anything too wheat-y. Another reason for going with rice and veggies, since they will still be viable no matter how my tests come in. (PS– I tried gluten-free corn/quinoa pasta– it’s pretty good!)

So I went to Trader Joe’s and grabbed some good-looking veggies… I wanted to get a pre-cut veggie mix meant for stir-frying, but I couldn’t find one. But a few of the elements were still pre-cut, namely some sort of garlic/onion/shallot mixture.

Quick milk story– while I was putting my groceries away, I emptied my ice cream-making milk cartons (expired anyway) and went to put them in my recycles bag– only to find a big spider. So I THREW an empty milk carton on top of the spider, because that’s how I kill spiders. And I still haven’t moved the carton, because I’m scared of living AND dead spiders. (And not 100% sure I killed it?)

So… there’s a good use for milk, even if you can’t drink it. (And… is anybody interested in coming over and putting a probably-dead spider in the trash?)

Blurry veggie mugshot.

Ingredients: The aforementioned onion/garlic/shallot/leek (?) mix, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, green beans, Soyaki (contains wheat… but that’s okay!), frozen brown rice, egg white. I bought potatoes, but then I realized that with the rice it would be a starch overload (maybe). So… potatoes some other time.

I got the veggies going in the pan with a little olive oil, in basically the order I just listed. After the carrots and before the mushrooms, I added some Soyaki and then added a cup or so of water, realizing that the veggies needed a while to cook without burning. So I chopped the rest of the veggies and threw them in while the water evaporated out. (I never covered it because I don’t have a cover… sigh.)

Come on in, the water's fine.

I have to say, I felt pretty cool because I was mostly improvising and going on my cooking instincts. Which– suddenly I have cooking instincts?

After the water was mostly gone, I added the rice to the pan. At first the frozen brown rice looked like sizzling rice from a Chinese restaurant, but as it cooked it looked much more brown rice-like. (I also bought jasmine rice, for future experiments.) I added another dash of Soyaki, unsure of how strong it would taste… I figured I could add soy sauce if it was weak.

Enter the rice.

Once the rice was hot enough (I literally ascertained this by TOUCHING it– hey, I’m the only one eating it), I cracked two eggs (not at the same time) and dribbled the egg whites over the pan. I always like finding egg in my fried rice, and I figured it was a nice bit of protein (but I wasn’t too concerned– I had chicken at lunch).

This came out really well– the broccoli and cauliflower were cooked to softness, the peas still had some snap, and the Soyaki wasn’t too overbearing. I daresay I’ll be continuing to expand my stir-frying vocabulary in the coming months… and for the rest of my life! (I mean, why limit the timeframe?)

And the best part– I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow!

See the egg?

That’s a new IKEA bowl… it has a pretty little design on the outside that you can’t see. (Sucka!) I recently realized that all my plastic Target bowls that I’ve been microwaving for YEARS aren’t microwave safe. WHOOPS. (And I wonder why I don’t feel well.) So… I’m team ceramic now. If I break the bowls… they were cheap.

Later (after dessert…) when I thought of it, I made myself a salad of simple romaine lettuce with lemon squeezed over it, followed by generous dashes of salt and pepper. A wonderful, healthy dressing– so easy, and so delicious. Makes me feel like a badass to whip it up.

Speaking of deliciousness, tonight I discovered the Sunday Suppers blog… the pictures are divine. Look at these tea sandwiches! I was just starting to lament that I don’t live a fancy life of stylish suppers and gourmet cooking with friends when I realized that the gatherings are CLASSES. If you live in Brooklyn… I’m jealous. Go to a Sunday Supper (unless they’re, like, crazy expensive).

Hmm… maybe I should just try to establish a stylish cooking klatch amongst my own friends. I love klatches. (Though I’m not sure I’m spelling that right… I think there are multiple ways to tackle it.) But I don’t know if mine would be QUITE as fancy or well-lit. (They’d be… un-fancy, let’s be real.)

Tonight I’ll just have to settle for living in the Brooklyn of LA (or is it?) and being able to whip up a pretty tasty improvised dinner for one. Baby steps.

xoxo…

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Do It (Over) Yourself: USE PEPPERMINT EXTRACT!

January 2, 2012

I told you it would look the same.

The other night, after reading my post about making chocolate chip mint ice cream, my mom texted me, “Mint extract and peppermint extract are 1000 miles apart.” I was like, too late. Also– how could mint extract be a thousand miles from peppermint extract, when mint extract was part peppermint, part spearmint?

But you know what? It made a BIG difference. The spearmint was giving the ice cream the maybe-I-want-to-barf twinge, because it’s a little too mint chewing gum. (I don’t really like spearmint gum.)

Of course, I spilled a little bit of the peppermint extract before it got to the bowl, and with my too-minty PTSD I erred on the side of not accidentally over-minting it again. So I ended up with a MUCH more subtle mint flavor, but maybe-not-minty-enough is DEFINITELY better than possibly-too-minty/maybe-I’m-going-to-barf. (Next time I’ll try to get it just right. Peppermint is definitely what you want to use to achieve that Baskin Robbins flavor.)

You know the ice cream is coming out muy tasty when you find yourself eating probably a whole serving size out of the machine, as it churns.

Caught with my spoon in the ice cream jar!

As for the first batch– it’s in the trash (I didn’t want the chocolate chips to clog up my sensitive sink). Too add insult to injury– somehow it managed to fall all over the kitchen floor as I was ushering it into the trash can. Jerk.

Oh– and a note about the chocolate chips. I used less than the called-for half-cup in this batch, because when the mint flavor is right, you don’t need to rely so much on the chocolate.

Another note– with my Cuisinart machine, it takes less than 20 minutes to churn to a consistency that is totally ready to eat. The recipe claims that you need 2 hours freeze-time after you churn. Nope. Make it right before your friends come over, and you’re good to go.

So– to recap. I took THIS recipe. I halfed it. I used half & half instead of cream. I used ultrafine sugar. I used a little less than the called-for amount of chocolate chips. And it came out… awesome. (And pay attention to your machine’s churn times… like I said, this is ready-to-eat in less than 20 minutes– but that’s my machine.)

You know what? Screw the link. Let’s write it out, RIGHT here. For posterity.

1 cup 2% milk
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup ultrafine sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (PEPPERMINT) (NOT MINT)
6 drops green food coloring & 2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
1/2 cup (or less) miniature semisweet chocolate chips (or shaved chocolate… if you have skills)

In a large bowl, stir together the milk, half & half, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the food coloring. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Whenever in the process your machine recommends adding mix-ins, pour in the chocolate chips.

My inspiration.

Unlike the last batch, I can pretty much guarantee that this is delicious. I am no longer concerned about how in the world I’ll manage to finish this less-than-a-quart over the next few days. If that ever happens again– that’s a good sign that the ice cream wasn’t delicious enough, because a quart is not THAT big. (A quart is 8 half-cup servings… but who eats a half-cup of ice cream at a time?) (People with excellent self-control.)

OKAY! Now that I’ve got a handle on mint chocolate chip ice cream, I can start thinking about which flavor I want to try NEXT… hmmm.

xoxo…

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Do It (Over) Yourself: Chocolate Chip Mint, Part 2

January 2, 2012

I didn't take this. Thanks, Google.

My mom alerted me to the fact that peppermint extract DOES exist. I think the spearmint in the general mint extract might have given my mint chocolate chip ice cream the weird twinge that made me feel a bit ill. (I don’t think I like spearmint.) (For the record, Sam thought it tasted fine… maybe he lacks the spearmint-nausea gene.)

So… I found peppermint extract at a different grocery store, and since I still have all the necessary ingredients I’m going to whip up another batch. It’s going to look exactly the same as the first batch (peppermint extract is clear), so I probably won’t take any pictures.

But I just wanted you to know, in case you decide to emulate my recipe. Learn from my mistakes! (See the next post for the thrilling conclusion.)

xoxo…

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Do It Yourself: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

December 31, 2011

Best eaten from a delightful ramekin.

The best kind of gift is the one you open and realize– it’s what you always wanted, but never knew you wanted. Because it’s such an amazing surprise. That pretty much sums up my new ice cream (and frozen yogurt, sorbet, gelato, etc.) maker. It was a Christmas present from Sam’s parents (THANKS!).

Luckily they let me know that I had to freeze the bowl– that’s a pro tip for everyone. When you buy an ice cream maker, stick that freezer bowl in the freezer. You’re gonna have to wait about 24 hours before you can whip up your first batch.

One of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors is the chocolate chip mint (I think I’ve said before– I never know what order to say the words… chocolate chip mint, mint chocolate chip) from Baskin Robbins. So I decided to try to emulate that most excellent taste in my first batch of ice cream.

I searched online and found this recipe from AllRecipes. Because I have natural family cholesterol problems, I looked for a recipe that didn’t involve any egg yolks, and used half & half instead of full-on cream (and planned on using 2% milk instead of whole milk, but this recipe already calls for 2%). I also halved the recipe to make only 1 quart.

As long as I mention it– is there anything else that can replace cream? I found a recipe that talked about saving calories by using gelatin, but then I looked up gelatin to see if it’s still made from boiling animal remains and– yep!– it is. Gross. Can’t deal with it.

I forgot to put the vanilla extract in the picture. But I used it.

The recipe calls for peppermint extract, but all I could find at the grocery store was “mint extract.” I looked at the ingredients– peppermint and spearmint extracts. Fine. [Edit:] (Maybe not.) [Later edit:] (Definitely use peppermint extract– I was fortune’s fool.)

I also opted to buy ultrafine sugar, because this recipe didn’t call for any sort of heating that would aid in dissolving big regular grains of sugar. (This was based partly on friend-Seth’s warning that homemade ice cream can often come out tasting grainy.) (Yes, I have become real-life friends with an internet stranger!) Now I’m stuck with more ultrafine sugar than I’ll need all year, because it only came in gigantor size.

So… you mix together the ingredients. It’s that simple. And then you add food coloring. Some people might say– hey, you’re using mint extract? You’re putting in food coloring? What’s that about? Be NATURAL. Sorry– Baskin Robbins did this to me. I’m not always a mint fan, and actual mint in my ice cream doesn’t appeal to me ONE BIT. (But I do like mojitos.) (But I don’t like mint tea.) (SEE?)

Fun with food coloring.

Since when do food coloring containers look like gnomes?

I was thinking that I’d add a drop or two of blue to get the right minty color, but the back of the food coloring box revealed that mint green is achieved by adding 1 drop of yellow for every 3 drops of green. I learn something new every day! (I used 6 drops green and 2 drops yellow, in case you were wondering.)

Then I whipped out the ice cream maker– it’s a Cuisinart ICE-21. You put the freezer bowl on the base, then throw in the plastic paddle and cover it with a lid. AFTER you turn on the machine (the bowl spins!), you pour the ice-cream-to-be into the bowl. And it starts to coagulate! (Okay, maybe that’s more of a medical term?)

Wheee!

At first I was concerned, because the paddle wasn’t fully emerged. But it worked out fine… and there are two levels to the paddle. And… the bowl is spinning like a centrifuge. So… don’t freak out. Just go with it.

After about 10 minutes (it only takes 20, total), I dropped the chocolate chips into the sludge. I had originally intended to shave some chocolate (sexy?), to be more Baskin Robbin-esque, but then I got lazy and decided to just smash chocolate chips with a rolling pin. But then I couldn’t find my rolling pin, so I smashed the chips with the giant container of ultrafine sugar. That didn’t really work, but they were mini chips to begin with. So whatever.

Chips ahoy.

The chocolate chips got sorta traffic-jammed in the paddle, and since there was nothing sharp or scary going on, I realized I could just scoop my fork in and give them a stir. (I avoided the moving bowl.) Then I realized that I could eat the ice cream as it was churning. (You know… testing for consistency. Yeah…)

Hey, I actually look like I'm supposed to!

The recipe called for the ice cream to be frozen for an additional 2 hours after churning, but I thought it was edible enough after 20 minutes. I stuck it in the freezer anyway, just because I wanted to eat some real lunch before I ate much more ice cream… when I pulled it back out to take that ramekin shot later, I noticed that it gets melty really fast… probably because of the low fat modifications.

Time to freeze.

As far as the taste… I thought the consistency was very nice. Somewhere between ice cream and frozen yogurt. We’ll see what it’s like after a bit more freezing. I’m on the fence about the minty-ness. It definitely tastes much better with chocolate than it does when I take a mint-only bite. But I’m not sure if it’s, like, barfingly minty or just the right amount of minty. I’ll have to force Sam to taste-test it. (What a terrible thing… tasting ice cream.)

So… maybe next time I might use a hint less of the mint extract. It’s really potent. It’s kind of weird that I can’t tell if it’s amazing or awful, right? I feel weird about it.

Oh, and PRO-TIP– the freezer bowl is SO COLD. Even if you wash it with warm water (as directed), it is still cold enough to stick to your wet hand if you touch the inside whilst trying to dry it (thank God I didn’t rip my skin off)… and then it’ll stick to the paper towel, too. (Just dry it upside down.) (And then stick it back into the freezer for the next time.) It’s very “A Christmas Story.”

One thing I already love about having an ice cream maker is that it’s a great topic of conversation– a lot of people own ice cream makers. The great friend-maker! That’s what they should really call it. If you have any tips, tricks or recipes– send them my way!

So… I’m looking forward to a new year full of ice cream-y inventions. (Which may or may not be barfingly minty…)

xoxo…

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Bringing Home the Bakin’

December 4, 2011

I made this several weeks ago. But it'll look similar tonight. I hope.

Hey guys.

So, my car is going to live. It’s going to take 64 hours of work over 16 days for the experts to do all of the repairs, but… yeah. It’ll drive another day. Until then, I’m driving a rental car and trying to park it away from the madness. And my neighborhood is still full of debris, so that’s a bit of a challenge.

For a few days I was avoiding Los Feliz and my apartment by hiding out in Sherman Oaks with Sam, but a new week is dawning and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Tonight, I’m cooking (sort of): I’m making Shake ‘n Bake, with all the nostalgic childhood trimmings. (AKA rice, veggies, whatnot.)

I will endeavor not to spill the office lunch-worthy leftovers on the floor of my rental car. (I’m so paranoid about my rental car.) (I have total parked-my-car-on-the-street-and-something-bad-happened PTSD, which is bad because… I have to park my car on the street. Every day.)

xoxo…

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Do It Yourself: Pumpkin Turkey Chili

November 13, 2011

Okay-- it's not super pretty but it tastes good.

I’m making pumpkin turkey chili AS WE SPEAK (the simmer-for-20-minutes part… multi-tasking). These pictures are from the first time I made it, over a month ago. My mom found the recipe at Ralph’s and gave it to me. That version called for stove cooking followed by crock-potting, but I found another version with the EXACT same ingredients that only called for a 20-minute simmer. So I went with it.

I realized tonight that I’ve been totally remiss in not sharing this with you. I think it’s awesome, my mom made it and thought that it was a little bland. Stirring in the cheese and eating it with some nice bread helps a lot. Last time I used dinner rolls, this time I’m going with some awesome-looking sourdough bread.

Hi.

Both sides indent in like that, which seems legit? And exciting? (To me, at least.) I think it would also make for some excellent grilled cheese. (And you’ll have cheddar, thanks to this recipe.)

Randomly, I like to cook while listening to Marc Maron’s WTF podcasts. I happened to listen to the Jon Hamm interview the first time I made this, so I will always associate this chili with Jon Hamm. He makes cooking a somewhat involved recipe alone in your kitchen a LOT more fun. (Bonus for the Bridesmaids fans: “But can he do THIS?”)

Wahoo!

Anyway, on to some pictures of the chili.

Ingredients:

Here we are.

I learned my lesson and bought pre-diced onions. Also– don’t fear the chili powder. It doesn’t make it too spicy. (When cooking I use just a dash of regular salt, but when serving I dash a little kosher salt on top– kosher salt is special. It tastes like angels.) (I refuse to explain how I know what angels taste like.)

The smell of the veggies sauteeing will make you glad that you decided to cook this. Yee-um. I think they’d also be great on pizza. (Yellow and green peppers, diced onions, and garlic– it’s as if somebody knew I don’t like red peppers and decided not to invite them. Cool)

You guys smell great.

Pro-tip: When you add the turkey, you have to pause your podcast. It gets too loud and sizzly, and you miss out on how exactly Jon Hamm met Paul Rudd and have to go back (or today– an anecdote about Gabe Liedman doing stand-up at a Jewish summer camp in Georgia).

After the turkey browns, it’s time for the good stuff– the pumpkin and tomato! (Can I just add that BOTH times I made this, I got the LAST can of pumpkin puree at my local store. It was okay in early October, but at this point– COME ON! Stock up!)

It all fits! Whew.

You also add the spices. Now it’s time to stir it all up and simmer.

For some really stupid reason I bought a 12-inch pan without a lid. I very expressly was like, I don’t want a stupid lid! STUPID! Now I regret that choice, as I have to MacGuyver my lid with tin foil. Pro tip: Get a pan with a lid. Stupid.

A peek inside my madness.

And when it’s all said and done, it looks like this. And it lasts for a few delicious days, but not an overwhelming number (a la crock pot).

Eat me.

None of my plated shots looked particularly appetizing, but it’s good enough that I’ve made it twice already. A nice bowl of pumpkin-y turkey chili on a rainy and/or cold November night– what could be more delightful? (Okay, maybe the actual presence of Jon Hamm, but I don’t have any recipe for making THAT happen.)

xoxo…

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Do It Yourself: A Quesadilla Phase

November 9, 2011

Triangles make everything taste better.

Every few years I go through a quesadilla phase. It typically comes out of nowhere (or maybe I’d see former-roomie Lauren making one and be inspired) and goes away by the time I’ve gone through one or two bags of tortillas. It’s like… when the locusts come. Very mysterious. (And luckily I don’t actually live in locust country, because I’m not a bug person.) (How many people are, really?)

Aaanyway, I always have problems locating good, not-too-unhealthy tortillas. Sometimes I walk into the tortilla (or bread) section of the grocery store and an grossed out by the smell of– I don’t know, maybe wheat? Flour? So I have to smell the bags to see if they offend.

I actually thought that the smell-thing might be indicative of a bread allergy, which is why last year I spent a week not eating bread to see what would happen. (Nothing notable, except that I didn’t get to eat my bread-crouton thing when I went to Tender Greens with Sam on our THIRD DATE.) (When I told him I might be allergic to bread, I’m sure he was like, GREAT. Self-diagnosing allergies? She seems like a PEACH.)

I ended up trying a new (to me) brand of flour tortillas– La Banderita. I really like them because they have layers… if you know what I mean. You can kind of peel them in half.

All that and 0g of transfats!

So I’m a happy camper. Until I get the vapors again, re: the smell of bread. (Seriously, am I weird? Do other people know what I’m talking about?)

And in case you’re wondering I happen to be using the Trader Joe’s brand light Mexican cheese blend, but I’m sure any will do. And I make my quesadillas in the microwave. Yes, yes, I’ve learned by now– everything tastes better on the stove. But… nothing tastes as good as lazy feels. (At least not right now.)

xoxo…

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Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2011

Pumpkin pie (pumpkin)! The candle looks like whipped cream.

Happy Halloween! Of course I managed to make mine all about food (and not just candy). First, my costume was Heinz ketchup. (It was a group costume– I rolled with mustard and relish.) Then Sam and I went to a carving party, and ended up making a pumpkin pie pumpkin.

We didn’t know what we would make, walking in. I wanted to do something food-related, and was thinking along the lines of (surprise, surprise) more ketchup. (And something relatively easy to carve, since I was going to do the bulk of it– Sam had done most of the work carving a ghost pumpkin earlier in the week.)

Sam ended up sketching a piece of pie, and he transferred that onto the pumpkin.

Work in progress.

Most of the carving went okay, until I sort of carved through a thin part. Then Sam-the-New-Englander took the helm and fixed it.

We had an amazing, creative line-up when everybody was done. Flamingos, Ron Burgundy, a Victorian-style profile… the most mind-blowing one was a detailed Sylvester Stallone.

Little pumpkins in a row.

Seriously– viewing all these pumpkins in the dark together was a wonderful moment. Like, summer-camp-bonfire style fun and bonding and good vibes. If you get invited to a carving party– DO IT!

Now I have pumpkin pie in the fridge, but not the edible variety. Sigh.

Yum?

(The toothpick was inserted for support during car travel.)

I’ve yet to eat any pumpkin pie this season, but I’m hoping to locate some soon… Thanksgiving latest. Obviously I’ve got it on the brain. (Or maybe Sam does– this was his idea. But I WAS looking for pumpkin pie at Trader Joe’s when we bought the pumpkin… sadly, they were out.)

xoxo…

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