apple vinaigarette dressing

i was looking around for thanksgiving leftover salad recipes and found this apple vinaigarette dressing:

*1/2 cup sugar
*1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
*2 tsp grated sweet or purple onion
*1/2 tsp dry mustard
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/4 cup veggie oil
*3/4 cup finely chopped apple
*crumbled bacon for garnish

add all ingredients in blender & pulse. toss salad in vinaigarette and garnish with crumbled bacon.

i have to say it is reeeeeaaaalllly good. it's like having salad dressing with toppings in it already. i used granny smith apples because they go with salad really well. i used spicy brown mustard instead of dry mustard because i didn't have any at my house. i added more onion because i love onion. i didn't garnish with bacon (wtf is wrong with me?!) because i didn't wanna fry up one slice of bacon right now. i have so much dressing left over so next time i shall. bacon makes everything better.

lavender-oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

i decided to finally use some of the lavender my mom brought for me when she visited. i found a recipe for lavender oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. since i had all the ingredients already and i didn't need to get my lazy ass out to the grocery store, i made them.


Frances' Secret Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies

* 1/2 cup real butter
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 2 Tbsp. dried Sweet Lavender flowers (3-4 Tbsp. fresh flowers)
* 1 large egg
* 2 Tbsp. milk
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 cup oatmeal
* 1 1/2 cups white flour
* 3/4 tsp. baking powder
* 1 generous cup good chocolate chips

Bowl 1: Blend butter, sugar & Lavender until smooth. Add egg, milk & vanilla in next.

Bowl 2: Blend oatmeal, flour, and baking powder together; add in your chocolate chips to this dry mix.

Blend both mixes together to form soft dough.
(If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour.)

Place by teaspoons onto baking tray.
Set oven @ 350° F
Bake 10 minutes for soft cookies, 15 mins for crisp ones.

OPTIONAL: Add 3 or 4 pieces of crystallized ginger finely chopped OR zest of one orange. OR: 1 cup nuts, raisins, coconut OR dried sweetened cranberries.
FOR A CHOCOLATE dough base: Add ½ cup of cocoa powder in with flour & sugar and decrease the chocolate chip amount slightly.

i love lavender and floral recipes, but i have to say next time i'd use just 1 tbsp of lavender instead of 2 tbsps. and maybe i'd pulse them in a blender first to make the lavender smaller because it is a bit too fragrant. these cookies were really easy to make and that's always good because this recipe makes about 100 bite size cookies.

tequila-lemon tres leches cake

i was lucky enough to have 2 thanksgiving dinners this year, one from my mom and one from our friend travis' mom. both were da bomb. i thought it would be a nice gesture to bring them a cake so i made a tequila-lemon tres leches cake. there were so many desserts when we got there! i think i ate more dessert than thanksgiving dinner this year. i love tres leches cake so i was really interested in making one. recipes usually suggest you make the cake the day before and let the milk soak in over night. i decided to bake the cake the day before thanksgiving before i went to work. i thought i had followed the recipe correctly but i had a lot of problems:

Tequila-lemon tres leches cake

Cake:
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup tequila (80 proof) 3 large eggs, separated 1 vanilla bean scrapings 1 teaspoon lemon zest 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Topping:
8 fluid oz. whole milk 8 fluid oz. evaporated milk 8 fluid oz. condensed, sweetened milk

the first issue i had was that my cake was not only flat, but it shrunk. it was also charred on the edges. so when i came home from work i chucked the cake in the garbage and bake another one. this time i used an electric beater on the egg whites, confectioners sugar and cream of tartar mixture. i also turned the oven down from 375 degrees to 350 degrees and baked it for 30 mintues instead of 50-60 minutes. i also added the entire cans of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milks instead of the suggested 8 ounces of each so it would be less dry. after i let it soak over night i topped it with fresh whipped cream. it was worth rebaking it, even if i did waste 1/2 cup of tequila. i almost forgot to snap a picture of the cake so i have an after photo. i haven't decided what i shall cook next, but i have to mention ryan made a delicious roast beef today and it made me want to john's deli that bitch up...make some red eye gravy and top it with fresh mozz and sauteed onions...mmmm

brown sugar turkey

i still have a ton of turkey leftover and it's not even thanksgiving yet. i decided to take shredded turkey and simmer it in a sweet sauce. the results were yummy.

*1 cup brown sugar
*2/3 cup vinegar
*1/4 cup sprite (or in this case coke with some lemon juice)
*3 tbsp minced garlic
*2 tbsp worchester sauce
*1 tsp salt
*1 tsp black pepper

combine ingredients in a pot and simmer.

ny bagels/ lemon sherbet

my mom brought me back a dozen bagels (6 poppy and 6 raisin) from bagelicious located on the corner of 13th ave and bay ridge ave in bklyn. this morning ryan and i made bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on the raisin bagels. it's the little things, like finding good bagels, that make me happy.
yesterday was the first day i had the kitchen to myself again so i made lemon sherbet and some black bean & guacamole dip. the dip was so good i ate it for lunch and dinner. i didn't share it with anyone. again i didn't take any pictures. well i thought i did, but i just ate it all the food instead. oh well.

Lemon Sherbet:

1/2 cup of lemon juice

Zest of 1 large lemon

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup superfine (castor) sugar (Can use regular granulated white sugar that has been processed in the food processor for about 30 seconds)

In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice, lemon zest, cream, milk, and sugar. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours.

Once the mixture is thoroughly chilled, place in your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer to a chilled container and store in the freezer.

I've been cooking with a lot of lemon and lime zest lately. Later today i'll be baking a tequila lemon tres leches cake for a thanksgiving party we're going to tomorrow. Hopefully i'll remember to take pictures to post but i'll have a bottle of tequila around and if i can't remember when i'm sober, i probably won't remember when i'm drunk.

busy busy busy

I've had a busy two weeks so i haven't been able to update anything. we got a new cat and my family came to visit me. my mom cooked a ton of food for a pre-thanksgiving dinner. i haven't been cooking much and have just been eating leftovers. she made 2 turkeys, a ham (cooked with a freshly slaughtered pig), mac & cheese, stuffing (with bacon, bbq rib meat, pork & brisket), mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and apple pie.
the week before i made homemade potato & cheese pierogies. it took a lot of time (3.5 hours) and patience but it was worth it. i was surprised by how authentic they tasted. it was nice to introduce a couple of my friends to pierogies because they had never heard of them before. i made potato pancakes to go with them for breakfast and fried sugar doughnuts for my nephew.
that week ryan made ribs and homemade bbq sauce. he makes such good bbq sauce. we're obsessed with bbq.
i didn't take any pictures of anything that we cooked because we pretty much ate it all immediately. i'll try to remember next time.

happiness pie

i think i'd be happy if i swam in a pie that large

Double Blueberry Cookie Pie

today i made double blueberry cookie pie. well, i made blueberry cookie pie minus the double. i'll explain later. i thought this would be a good time to introduce myself.
i was born and raised in brooklyn, ny up until four months ago when i moved to new mexico. my boyfriend is going to school and i'm discovering the world...or at least america...this is the farthest west i've ever been on the mainland. it's taking a lot of getting used to for me, but i've always enjoyed cooking and especially baking so i've been spending a lot of time doing so.
i really enjoy experimenting and i rarely ever make the same food twice. right now i'm on a learning how to roll dough trip. i've been making a lot of homemade pies and ravioli so i can try to get the knack of it. last week i had 3 differents pies (pumpkin, avocado & chess/crack pie) in my fridge just because.
hence, the blueberry cookie pie i made today. i usually find a lot of the recipes i make online from various websites. the following is the recipe:

1 (18-ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough, room temperature
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Dash salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream, whipped

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9-inch pie pan and small cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl combine sugar cookie dough and flour until mixed. Remove about a quarter of the cookie dough; cover with plastic and refrigerate for later use. With floured hands, press unrefrigerated dough into bottom and sides of prepared pan. Place in freezer to firm up, about 15 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out refrigerated cookie dough 1/4-inch thick. With a floured cookie cutter, cut out stars or other shapes; place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake cookie dough pie crust until golden, about 11 minutes and stars for about 6 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of the blueberries, the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in 2/3 cup water and the lemon juice. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, crushing blueberries. Stir in remaining 2 cups blueberries; chill.
5. Spoon blueberry mixture into cooled cookie shell. Decorate with the star-shaped cookies and whipped cream.

Makes 8 servings.

There are a few changes I made. I could only find a 16.5 oz package of sugar cookie dough so i used 1/4 cup of flour instead. Next time i'm going to leave the flour out all together and just roll the dough onto the pan. I think it'll be more cookie and less stiff. I used all the heavy cream i had to make alfredo sauce the other day so i didn't make any whipped cream. And the double cookie part called for baking cookies to decorate the pie, but while baking the pie i got hungry and ate the cookies. While i was baking the pie the song "happiness pie" from the movie brain candy started playing from my ipod on random. nice.

The pie is pretty yummy. I ate 3 pieces already...for dinner. While i was shoveling it into my mouth my friend Carlisa called me. When i think of blueberries i think of Carlisa because she loves the color purple (the color not the movie...well maybe she likes the movie...i have no idea). When we would go to Ihop she would order the blueberry pancakes because the pancakes would turn purple from the blueberries.

uhhhh...anyway i think i'm going to try to make pierogies next. i miss polish food and i've had a request from ryan's classmate to make pierogies.

testing...1...2...3...

decided to create this blog so i could remember what i cooked today, what it looked like, how it tasted, did i follow the recipe and how did i fuck it up, etc...etc. as soon as i get batteries for my camera, i'll start to post pictures. well, as soon as i find my camera...