oh snap!

what happens when i am on the phone with the bestie gushing about my new beau while trying to bake cookies? i forget one cup of flour and my gingersnaps have no snap. instead, they were gingergoos.

i checked the over temp, the size of the cookies, and space between cookies. then i reran the recipe in my mind...it finally hit me. doh! *in homer simpson voice*

normally, emotional states make for good baking. when i am sad, i can bake myself into a better mood. when i am happy, i can fan that flame. when i'm in like or love, i can convey that in the food that i make. but apparently, giddy and smitten make for a distracted baker. what's a gal to do?  well, since things are going so well and the giddiness is not going anywhere anytime soon, i just paid closer attention to what i was doing.

1 c sugar

3/4 c butter, softened

1/4 c molasses

1 egg

2 1/4 c flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 c sugar

-in a large bowl, combine 1 c sugar, butter, molasses, and egg--beat until light and fluffy.

-combine flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. add flour mixture to wet ingredients. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

-preheat over to 350. shape dough into 1" balls, roll in sugar. place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. cool 1 minute and remove from cookies sheet.

voila!

flavors of east africa

a little gem right over the hill (texas street). the way to your heart is through you stomach...they won over my heart at the sdsu farmer's market on thursdays. then they opened a restaurant and they kept my heart - for as long as they are in business.
http://www.flavorsofeastafrica.com/

totally recommend all of their veggies, but my personal faves are the nyoyo (hominy and kidney beans) and the dengu (lentils), with the sambusas (spicy lentils). i probably eat there monthly and stop off of the farmer's market stand more often than that. and i totally recommend them (check the yelp account...5 stars all the way).

i am thankful indeed

happy thanksgiving! this is my favorite holiday of the entire year because the whole point is food! (well, the whole point is to be thankful for what you have and since i have all this wonderful food, for that i an thankful indeed!)
this year, i made the green bean casserole (again). it is delicious and i am happy to make it. but it is not too exciting for me...and so i baked. of course!

chipotle apple pecan cake
this cake is delicious and different. it smells and looks like an apple spice cake. and it is. but about three bites in and you start to taste the heat. it is not overpowering but it is present. and it is wonderful! fall is a wonderful time for the hot spices--cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg. they warm you up from the inside out. but the addition of chipotle pepper turns that up a couple of notches.

i baked this for a family dinner...but i knew that i could not wait overnight to east a piece. an easy solution: pour 1/3 cup of the batter into a individual bundt bake pan and enjoy whenever i want. which was almost immediately!

3 c flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 c cooking oil
1 3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
3 large sweet-tart apples peeled, cored, and diced
1 c chopped pecans, toasted

1. preheat over to 325. lightly coat 10" fluted tube pan with cooking spray, lightly sprinkle with flour. set aside. in a bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, chipotle, ginger, pepper, salt, and cloves. set aside.
2. in a mixing bowl, beat oil and sugar until combined. add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in vanilla and flour mixture. stir in apples and pecans. spoon batter into pan.
3. bake 1 1/4 hours, until toothpick comes out clean. meanwhile prepare spicy caramel glaze. cool cake in pan 10 minutes, invert on rack. place rack over a baking sheet. drizzle warm cake with glaze. cool completely before serving.

spicy caramel glaze:
in a saucepan cobine 1/2 c packed brown sugar, 1/4 c butter, 1/4 c whipping cream, and 1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper. bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. boil gently 2 minutes. remove from heat. stir in 1 tsp vanilla. let stand 1 1/4 hours until slightly thickened. drizzle over warm cake.
(my compliments to better homes and garden)

four mushroom-cheese baked penne

i found this recipe in one of my food magazines...four different types of cheese and four different mushrooms. it's like mac and cheese for big kids! i have been in the mood for mac and cheese since last friday night. went out to dinner at the west coast tavern (neither of us had ever been). they had a mac and cheese du jour...and i didn't order it. i know...say wha?!? why not?!? of course the only thing i could think about in the last four days was mac and cheese. last night...victory was mine.

http://www.cookingclub.com/Recipes/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8302/Four-Mushroom-Cheese-Baked-Penne

brunching with the baby out of the belly

last week i met my newest love, aidan james bedell. and even though he is sweet and delicious, don't worry, we didn't actually eat him. but he did take a nap at the precise time his mommy and i wanted to eat. so we took this cute guy to cheesecake factory. annie and i brunched while aidan napped. he woke up as we were boxing our food and ate his bottle (and then his tasty fingers). then we all went shopping. talk about a perfect first date...if all men could behave so well :)
food was ancillary to this story but i had to start again somewhere and this seemed perfect! love you aidan!

brunching with the baby in the belly

i love my annie so very much. since college physics where we struggled together to research methods where we salivated together...annie is such a big part of my life. now annie has lil shrimp (it's current name until it has a gender and we can call it something else--although i doubt this poor kid will ever outgrow shrimp).
anywho, i will be driving up to see annie and the mini-bump tomorrow so i decided to make a brunch treat:
melt-in-your-mouth blueberry cake

2 eggs separated
1 c sugar plus 2 tbsp
1/2 c butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 c milk
1 1/2 c blueberries, dusted w/ flour
1 tsp cinnamon

1. heat over to 350F. spray 8" square pan with cooking spray.
2. in large bowl, beat egg whites at medium speed until foamy; beat in 1/4 c of the sugar. continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. in another large bowl, beat butter, salt, vanilla, 3/4 c sugar and egg yolks until light and creamy.
4. in another bowl, sift together flour and powder. stir gradually into batter, alternating with milk. fold in egg whites and blueberries. spoon into pan. combine remaining 2 tbsp sugar and cinnamon sprinkle over batter.
5. bake 50 min or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. cool cake in pan on wire rack.

i know i love it and i'm pretty sure that annie and shrimp will like it as well :) raise your juice, milk and/or coffee to shrimp because he was the reasoning we girls get to brunch tomorrow.

crest cafe

there are so many places to eat in hillcrest alone, not to mention in the greater san diego area, so how do you make the decision to try some new place? i love that groupons give me a reason to try new places--hence my trip to crest cafe last night with a work friend.
thursday are long(er) days, so i was hungry by the time we got there. but i was not starving. (just wanted to throw out that caveat--this praise was not just due to me being food-deprived)
that "diner smell" hits you when you enter--french fries and pancakes and coffee. i was sold already. the challenge was deciding between breakfast, lunch, or dinner. i decided on dinner so that i could have some wine and not feel like a weirdo. i wanted a burger--it seemed like the diner-appropriate choice--but they all looked good. so when tom (our server) came to take our order, i asked him what his favorite dishes were. he suggested the balboa burger and some other chicken plate. i went with the balboa burger. half-pound burger (woah) with bacon and cheddar cheese. this thing was monstrous. the fries were freshly-cut and the only criticism i had the entire night was that the fries needed a little bit of salt.
i boxed half of the burger to take home and was already making room for dessert. i was eyeballing the croissant bread pudding.  tom did me right on the burger so i asked him about his fav dessert. he said the croissant bread pudding. this was fate folks. i ordered, it came, i ate. this was de-to-the-lish! the serving size was monstrous (again) and i went home feeling way too full. but i will for sure be returning...
http://www.crestcafe.net/

happy chinese new year

year of the rabbit...i promise not to eat any rabbit this year :) come to think of it, i don't think i have ever eaten rabbit so we're on a pretty good track.

i took my little to p.f. changs--totally authentic chinese cuisine. in all honesty, she is 17 years old. she thinks jack in the box and the taco shop are good eats, so big chains are like fancy-pants. i forgot how good their cripsy green beans were--DELISH!!! i let her order and we started with the chicken wraps, followed by the lo mein and the beef broccoli. the kids eats her veggies (see first post) so i am way ok with ordering them. but once again, food associated with fond (and not-so-fond) memories of this kid and her angst. boyfriend issues times infinity. i think i will associate p.f. changs and chinese food with cheating high school boys and the girls who love them.

sunday morning breakfast

why can't i cook every morning? well, i don't have an hour to make steel-cut oatmeal every morning so that's my first problem. but i finished my grant last night and have this "free time" this morning...so i decided to treat myself.

steel-cut (or irish) oatmeal with a delish almond/pear/orange/ginger topping.
thank you sunset (once again) for the inspiration.

first the orange zest hits your nose--very fresh and i love the smell of citrus. then, when you take that first bite, the ginger creeps in. next time, i will use some fresh ginger and it will pack a bigger punch. the almonds provide a nice hearty crunch while the dried pears provide a softer texture. and with a hint of brown sugar on top...this was truly a treat for a sunday morning :)

german chocolate cookies

chocolate, coconut, and pecans--it was the only name i associated with these delish ingredients :)

plus i needed something to start off this week and this semester right. first ta meeting of the semester with a new ta and 7 returning tas. first writing group meeting of the semester--and you know this think tank needs some juice to get things rolling.

• 1 stick of butter
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 c chocolate chips
• 3/4 c coconut
• 1/2 c chopped pecans

preheat over to 350. line cookie sheet with parchment.

cream butter and two sugars together until smooth. add egg, vanilla, and salt until creamy.

in separate bowl, combine flour, soda, powder. add to wet ingredients. stir in chips, cocnut, and pecans.

roll tablespoons-sized balls of dough between your hands and place on parchment. bake for 13-15 minutes (13 minutes if you like them more chewy, 15 minutes if you like them a little more crispy around the edges). cool on rack.

enjoy :)

san diego restaurant week--suite and tender

it's not like someone had to twist my arm to try a new spot, but san diego restaurant week provides you just that--a reason to try something new. so friday night, i did just that.
first things first, this place was boojie! lots of textures and smells and ambience galore.while waiting for all of our party to arrive, we had drinks at the bar. i had the passion (vodka, sparkling wine, passion fruit puree, and cranberry juice). it was delish, not $13 delish, but pretty tasty.
then we had our three courses. i started with spinach salad with seckle pears, pine nuts, pancetta, and a caramel dressing. then i moved to the seared sea bass with israeli cous cous, pea tendrils, and tomato confit. i finished it up with pecan pie and maple ice cream and caramel syrup.
o to the m to the g! this place was amazing. the sizes were just right. the flavors blended together beautifully. the three-course menu options were plentiful, as they had lots from which to choose. the service was great. even the bathrooms were boojie (that's right, you try finding the doors to the dimly-lit, guys and gals room). all in all, a very cool friday night and another sd restaurant checked off the list. only 1 million more to go...
http://www.suiteandtender.com/

chicken escabeche with cilantro black beans

thank you sunset magazine for this delish and easy gem
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=50400000109256

as of about the last 4 years or so, i have not been eating (or preparing) a lot of meat. mostly, i cave to peer pressure in that i cannot explain to my grandparents why i don't eat meat when there is meat available to eat. so i eat it. the same goes when i have omnivores and carnivores over to my house.

i had my friends over to eat. she east just about anything but he does not eat red meat...so i was looking for a chicken dish. this popped out and it was tasty!

that cilantro hits first and then the jalapenos kick in (i used much more of both than the recipe called for). i can see making these beans again for my veggie friends because they were delish!

happy tummy to make up for a rough couple of days.

just your average tuesday night

i am a big sister, of big brothers big sisters of san diego. i have been matched with my little sister for over 2 years now. she is 17. she is a high school junior. she loves food but is 17 years old so her palate is not yet as refined or as adventurous as mine. i try to keep it real with stuff i know she loves and i only push a little bit with the new stuff. tonight we kept it real. i made penne alfredo with chicken and broccoli. this kid would eat noodles with alfredo sauce and broccoli almost everyday if you let her. this is usually her menu preference at most italian restaurants. i don't think it's a bad thing at all--although her grandma pokes fun at her for ordering the same dish everywhere we go. if a teenager wants to eat green vegetables, i say give them to her! chicken breasts butterflied, broccoli steaming, water boiling...i get the basics going. a little salt and pepper and olive oil for the chicken--nothing fancy. when that's done, i melt a little butter, add cream and boil to start the sauce. i put in some cheese and pepper and dinner is pretty much done. "i want to be able to cook like you." i smile. all the while, i am listening to stories about her boyfriend and her family and college and all kinds of other topics. i don't think i am really doing much, which is why i chose to cook this after a long, long day at work. but it made me stop and smile. and then we ate.