Hey ya'll! Happy 2013! I took some time off and out of the kitschen. Now at the end of January, I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Work with me here peeps. I'm a bit rusty. So I'm taking things slowly and keeping it simple. No candy thermometer. No homemade caramel. Just some basics re-worked into new tasty treats.

On direct side effect of me not being in the kitschen is that the cupboards were not fully stocked. I didn't really go grocery shopping for almost the whole month! When I finally got inspired and energized enough to make something I picked out a chickpea recipe I'd been wanting to make for a while. I know I'm usually going on and on about sweet things I like. But seriously folks. When it comes to savory I loves my chickpeas. Mainly, I love hummus. But you know... I had already been eating hummus and veggie like they were a full balanced diet so I needed to switch it up a bit. This dish of braised coconut spinach chickpeas is another treat from the people at the Apartment Therapy family. Although it took me longer to make than the estimated time (I just couldn't get that can of coconut milk open for the life of me.) it was a pretty quick weeknight dinner.

Uhhhh..... I molded my rice and wanted to take a purty picture but I was too hungry. So instead you get to see my last couple of bites.


Getting back in the kitschen felt so good I kept at it. The next day I decided to tackle a dessert. My mother doesn't share my love for decadently sweet desserts. This means that unless I want to eat a whole pan of brownies myself (but really, who doesn't?!) I have to make some compromises when making desserts for the sake of baking. However, she does love pistachios. She really loved the dark chocolate pistachio cookies I made not too long ago. I wanted to do something new though... and I took the half bag of pistachios we had in the kitchen and got to work. I made La Fuji Mama's mini-pies!







To assemble press the dough into your muffin tin. Add a bit of pistachios, a little of the honey mixture, some more nuts, a little more honey and top with the crust floret. Bake for about 20 minutes and you get this:


 

My mom didn't want me to take a "candid" shot of her enjoying her dessert.... but she did agree to hand model the pie for a cross section photo!


I was on a roll! So a couple days later I made it a trilogy. This time I didn't really have a recipe. Only an idea and a few leftovers in the kitchen. Originally I thought I'd be able to stretch the packaged pie crust to make these Indian spiced meat and vegetable pockets... errrr faux samosas (fauxmosas?). Like many good intentions that one lead to Hades. So I HAD to make the dough from scratch. I made a basic pie crust (extra cold butter, flour, salt, and ice cold water) and added a little ground pepper to the mixture. While the dough was chilling in the fridge I peeled and cut two potatoes. As the potatoes boiled I chopped up a shallot I had laying around and some garlic. I sauteed those things in a skillet and put them in a big bowl.

As I moved forward in this multi-tasking process I thought... mom's gonna want some meat. I took a bit of ground turkey and began browning it in the same skillet I'd sauteed the garlic in. By this time the taters were tender so I drained them and added me to the big bowl to cool. Once the turkey was browned and crumbled I drained the grease and seasoned it. I had a bit of left over Masala spice mix from when I made homemade chai last holiday season. I put that on the meat along with a little salt and pepper. I had some left over spinach leaves so I added that to the meat and let them wilt as it cooled.

With all the basics of the fauxmosa filling cooled I began to add it all together. In the big bowl I hard: sauteed garlic and shallot, ground, browned and seasoned turkey and potato cubes.... I then added a little more Masala spice, some EVOO, a little crushed ginger, and a handful of frozen peas. I mixed it all together and let it sit while I rolled out the pie dough. I used circular cookie cutters because it was easy. I spooned a little of the meat mixture into the center of on disc, rubbed a little milk around the edge and sealed another disc ontop. I crimped the edge with a fork and sprinkled come caraway seeds on top. I put the fauxmosas in the over at 350 for 20 minutes.




 FAUXMOSAS

• shallot, chopped
• 2 bulbs garlic, chopped
• handful of spinach leaves
• 2 potatoes, cubed and boiled til fork tender
• 1/2 c frozen peas
• 1 tsp Masala spice mix/curry powder
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• ground turkey, browned and crumbled

It's that time of year when we begin to reflect on the days past and look toward the new year. It's also the time when family comes to visit. Or you go to visit family. Usually around this time I am also in the kitschen werking to create some goodies to send to my friends. This year, it didn't happen. What had happened was.... First, I couldn't find a DIY card design I liked. So I conceded and bought cards. Second, I took that kinda last minute trip to Florida with my sister. So I wasn't in the kitchen early enough to get my baking/concoction making done in good time. Thirdly, I got home and tried to speed through the process. But, once I was done the packages wouldn't have reach people before the holiday mail blackout. In the end... I had a lot of goodies on my hands and not enough people to give them to. Also, I will be trying to get out "Happy New Year, So Glad the World Didn't End," packages after the 2nd. So if you usually get something in the mail from my kitschen in December, just look for it in January. I might remake these things or do something new... again. Prefences/request... in box me.

Smitten Kitchen Brioche Pretzels

I have linked to and used multiple recipes from the Smitten Kitchen blog. I love it. I find that her recipes never steer me wrong. It's where I got my favorite chocolate cookie recipe from (that is until I get my hands on some chocolate discs and make that fancy Frenchman's recipe). Well, Deb (the writer), has recently published her book! And most of the recipe's in the book are new ones not found on the website!!! I didn't buy the book (too rich for my blood) but I did squee and snatch it up off the library shelf. On a related note, The Kitchen (another fav blog of mine) has this particular recipe posted as a sneak peek online.

Homemade Beer Marshmallows Covered w/ Chocolate & Pretzels

Once the sugar bloom is at the correct temperature add it to the gleatine bloom. Whip that shizz on high for a bit. Add in vanilla. Continue whipping until it forms soft peaks.

My mother once in a while often puts in requests for baked goods for work. This year she as for a dozen cupcakes and 3 dozen cookies. I'm going to not even try to feign modesty and report I was happy to hear that at the annual holiday party her co-workers actually asked, "Ms. B, where are the cupcakes? Your daughter didn't make us any this year?"  My reputation grows ya'll! In the end she asked the day after for me to make 2 sets of goodies for her different program sites. Here's a report on what I made for her.

All Nutella Cupcakes

Now you know I loves me some chocolate and peanut butter. I also really like cookie butter/speculoos. One time I even made Oreo butter. All that is to say you should be able to guess I also love Nutella/hazelnut chocolate spread. I do! What I don't like about many of the Nutella cupcakes on the market is that they're usually just chocolate cake w/ Nutella buttercream. Not cool dude! I want that hazelnut goodness through and through. Fortunately, Robin of Bird on a Cake, feels the same way. She posted a GREAT way to incorporate hazelnut flavor into your chocolate cake recipe. The secret... (which is GENIUS in my mind) ADD HAZELNUT CREAMER!!!! My mind was blown you guys. So that's what I did.

 Holiday Cookie Cut-outs

Once again I used the best ever sugar cookie recipe. I figure, it works so... meh. I bought an amazing set of nesting circular cookie cutters waaaaay back when I lived in DC. I pulled them out. First I made like 2 dozen teeny tiny circle because the plane was to make them look like peppermints. Then my mom informed me she needed the cookies to be ready that afternoon (I thought I was baking for the next day) so that changed things a bit. I bumped up my cookie cutter size and only iced about 1 dozen faux peppermint cookies.






So yeah. I made these things for my mom. She took them to work and to share with others. They were enjoyed. Not a lot of process pics for this post b/c I used basic clutch recipes which I've shared before. But, my next post will include some new things... And you can be merry in knowing I continue to try my hand at different dessert creations.

Hey yo! I know it's the holidays and I have been busy doing that kind of stuff. But, I also took a trip with my big sis recently and it was fabulous! I don't get to hang out womyn a womyn with my big sister that often. So when she had to relocate down south for a new job I invited myself along for the car ride. It did not disappoint... and I think she had fun too!

First I took the bus (yeah greyhound!) from the Mitten to Indiana. My bus has some technical difficulties so the trip took longer than I thought. And... because I love to be over prepare I usually end up under prepared. In this case it means I forgot the dohickey that allows me to plug the USB cord side of my phone charger into the wall. As a result I was out of battery once I reach the Indianapolis bus terminal. With thoughts of the bus depot scene from Adventure in Babysitting in my head I devised a backup plan.

• Walk purposefully out of the depot and into downtown Indianapolis
• Have cell phone out as if I'm talking to someone 
• Find a free wifi source
• Use Kindle to send email to let sister know I'd arrived

Just as I was enacting step 2 of my awesome plan I stopped at the crosswalk and a car pulled up. A voice said, "Hey, are you lookin' for me?" Before I could totally freak out I took a closer look at the driver and it was... MAH BIG SISTER! Awesome timing right?! Stars aligned and we road off into the early evening toward her home. The next morning we woke up and began our Thelma & Louise (as her hubby and his brother called it) road trip to Florida. We (thankfully) broke the trip down into two days. The first day we drove to Atlanta and spent the night before continuing on to the sunshine state.

 The first(?) stop was to get gas and eat a bit of lunch. You must realize the as kids my mom NEVER stopped on road trips un-necessarily. And by necessary she meant to get gas. We (her children) were trained to go potty before getting on the road, to limit liquid intake, and to make sure to make a "pit stop" when we made a pit stop for gas. Family legend has it that when my twin and I were around  6 or 7 we road somewhere with my grandma and when she stopped at a rest stop we asked if it was a hotel.





T'was bittersweet dining though because the cafe was closing in a week. The food was good and to quote my sis, "...[That] sure beat the drive through." After lunch we drove on (and on) with the goal of making it to Atlanta in time to see the winter season finale of Scandal. We arrived in the Atlanta Metro area with about 45 minutes to spare. But first... food. We needed dinner. My sister was in the mood for Chipotle but there was no Chipotle in Smyrna, GA. We did find a new place in a shopping cluster called The Corner Taqueria so we hedged out bets and gave it a try.






Over all... not bad. I wouldn't call it a taqueria though b/c those tortillas were not "authentic." Yeah... I said it. A Mexican taco comes double wrapped in a corn tortilla- everyone knows that. I was also bummed b/c their elota appetizer was $5 and change. Five bucks for corn on the cob?! I don't know where they were getting their crema from but that was to fancy for even bourgeois me!

The next morning before hitting the road I begged my sister if we could dine at Waffle House. She obliged and it did not disappoint! I wish we had these in the Mitten. I wish I had a friend in the Mitten I could call up on a lazy Sunday and would drive to Toledo with me to go to the nearest Waffle House. I don't so I had to take the opportunity when it arose.



I got a Greek omlet w/ chicken, side of toast and home fries. We split a waffle.


I must say Keke's was worth the wait. Generous proportions and good food! Also, the OJ I ordered was locally source. My sister plans on bringing her kids when they get to town. After such a BIG breakfast we had to talk it out a bit. So we took a stroll through Downtown Disney. I had no clue what this meant. My mind was like, "Is Disney a town AND an amusement park?" "Does the mean Celebration, FL the Disney city?" I now know that Downtown Disney is like a huge outdoor mall with lots of Disney themed store and kiosks. I'd been joking w/ my sister about getting matching tattoos to commemorate our trip. They had a henna kiosk but I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for it to dry. I can barely sit still long enough for my nail polish to set. I knew I'd smudge that henna and end up looking like I had some weird tan or a new birthmark.












Later that evening we went to a sushi place for dinner... I can't even remember what it was called. But the food was awesome AND I got to try a fancy drink.