Homemade Pasta

My mom got Elliot a pasta maker for Hanukkah (fantastic gift, Mom!) and we went to town yesterday. Making pasta is so simple - you need just flour and eggs - and is so delicious.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

I can't wait to make ravioli next!

Christmas Cookies Galore

It's crazy to think that the holiday season is over. It felt like I blinked and suddenly it's 2013!

Last week I did some travelling: first to Florida to spend Christmas with Tony and his family (my first real Christmas celebration!) then to New Jersey to visit with my mom's side of the family. I had an absolutely wonderful time and wish the visits could have been longer!

Before leaving, my mom and I whipped up three batches of cookies to share with everyone. Two traditional: Linzer Cookies and Mexican Wedding Cookies (both that my grandmother used to make). One nontraditional: Chocolate Smooches.

All in one day.

Deeeeelicious.

First up: Linzer Cookies. We used this recipe from Bon Appetit. We didn't have star cutouts so we decided to use the heart cutouts that we have. This recipe is pretty time-consuming but it's a lot of fun to assemble!

I decided to bake the cutouts and make mini Linzer Cookie sandwiches. Two mini hearts with the strawberry filling sandwiched in between them and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Too cute.

Next up: Mexican Wedding Cookies. We decided to use this recipe from Martha Stewart. Sticking to my grandmother's tradition, we made some into balls and some into crescents, and decided to nix the almond decoration.

Finally, the chocolate smooches. My mom found this recipe in the Chicago Tribune. At first glance it seems like any old chocolate cookie...but as soon as we made the batter we knew they were going to be divine. And divine they were.

 

(Two lucky ladies I won't be seeing for a while should keep their eyes out for a package in the coming week...!)

Did you do any baking for Christmas?

P.S. Hope you like my blog's new look!

I'm Back!

Hi everyone!

It sure has been a while...but I'm back! My work on President Obama's re-election campaign over the past year seriously cut back on my free time, which is why I haven't posted in such a while. Fear not, I'm back and hope to update this blog on a more consistent basis.

I flew home on Monday, and have absolutely loved being home. Last night Elliot realized at 11:00pm (yes, PM) that he forgot to get his secret santa a gift. Here's the twist: he needed to give her a gift today. So what's a guy to do with limited resources and limited time?

Make 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies.

Yes, 3 ingredients.

1 cup of creamy peanut butter.

1 cup of granulated sugar.

1 egg.

Combine the ingredients...

Scoop them onto a baking sheet to put into a 350 degree oven....

And 8-10 minutes later...

DONE

Enjoy!

I'll be back soon with some Christmas cookies you'll want to whip up before the 25th!

Nutella. Enough Said.

Nutella, as we all know, is dangerously good. One bite of pretzels dipped in Nutella or banana Nutella toast is never enough. It's irresistibly rich, chocolatey, and nutty, and is outrageously delicious on just about anything.

My brother Elliot showed me this recipe for Nutella hot chocolate, and I can't get over how perfectly simple and divine it is. This hot chocolate is almost as easy as any Swiss Miss mix and is infinitely better. It's going to be so perfect on a cold, blustery day, and I encourage everyone to give it a try!

Ingredients: 1 cup of milk (any kind works, but 2% and whole will be much richer than skim) and 2 overflowing tablespoons of Nutella. That's it!

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat.*

2. Whisk until Nutella melts into chocolate (yum) and small bubbles begin to form on the edge of the pot.

3. Pour into your favorite mug and enjoy! 

Last weekend I went to a pottery store and painted this mug; I decided to use an Obama theme, now that it is finally 2012, and it turned out great!

Delicious, two-ingredient hot chocolate? Yes we can!

*I'm not sure if this can be made in the microwave, but I'm guessing it would! For those of you at college without access to a stove, try to microwave it in a microwave-safe mug for a bit on high and stir to combine the milk and Nutella. It seems like a logical option to me!

Baked Alaska Challenge

A few weeks ago my family went to Philadelphia for my grandmother's 80th birthday. We had a delicious meal at Butcher and Singer, complete with a traditional dessert my brother and I have never tried--baked Alaska. We ordered it, not really sure what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised!

A baked Alaska, as we learned, is a dessert where ice cream is scooped on top of pound or sponge cake, and the entire thing is covered in meringue and baked in the oven to create a stiff shell. The baked Alaska at Butcher and Singer had a vanilla sponge cake with banana ice cream, and was delicious.

Elliot, my cousin Lauren, her boyfriend Nick and I loved the dessert so much, and Elliot and I vowed to recreate it at home. It's a simple, fun dessert that can be made with many flavor combinations. Elliot and I decided to keep it simple--for the cake we used a marble pound cake, and for the ice cream we used Haagen Dazs vanilla frozen yogurt.

First, we cut the pound cake into 1-inch thick slices. We put a scoop of ice cream on top and trimmed the cake into a circle. We put them on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer.

Next, we prepared a simple meringue using egg whites, vanilla, cream of tartar, and sugar.

We then piped the meringue to cover the ice cream and pound cake.

We put them in the oven for 3 minutes at 500 degrees and were amazed with how quickly the tips started to brown.

Here are the final baked Alaskas (Elliot's is on the left, mine is on the right)

They turned out great! The pound cake was a little dry, and we want to try a different flavor of ice cream next time, but overall it was a great first effort. Here's a cross-section of one; I need to learn how to make a more compact scoop of ice cream!

We all loved the baked Alaskas, and we can't wait to make them again!

Winter Break Baking (so far!)

Having started my winter break only a little over a week ago, I haven't had a lot of time to bake yet. Here's what I've been able to enjoy so far:

NYT Magazine Cookies

My mom pulled a couple of pages from the NYT Magazine (12/18/11) that has the most perfect cookie dough recipe, along with lots of alternatives for what to do with the dough. Variations on frosted cookies, thumbprints, sandwich cookies, and cookie bars were included in the article, and some notable combinations were lemon curd thumbprint cookies, mocha sandwich cookies, and butterscotch and cayenne cookie bars. 

I ended up making three kinds of cookies to send to friends for the holidays--traditional raspberry jam thumbprint cookies, dark chocolate and sea salt thumbprint cookies, and mocha sandwich cookies. The dough was easy to make, and the flavor combinations were delicious. I highly recommend this recipe!

 Abigail's Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Tart

I think I could call this the best dessert I have ever had. That's really saying something, because (as many of you know) I enjoy a lot of dessert. I went to Abigail's with my family tonight and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Their butternut squash soup was to die for! After dinner I convinced my dad to split this tart with me, as we are both chocolate and peanut butter fanatics, and I'm grateful I did. It was extremely rich but oh so delicious.

Although the dessert is called a mousse tart, it was extremely dense. It was circular with a chocolate crust and what seemed to be a layer of ganache. The peanut butter filling was extremely rich, and its saltiness was complemented nicely by the chocolate in the crust and top. It was garnished with peanut brittle and accompanied by banana ice cream, which cut the sweetness and saltiness of the tart.

My goodness, was it delicious. Sharing it with my dad was a smart move, because even though it was fantastic, it was too rich and dense for one person alone. My brother got the sticky-toffee pudding cake, which was delicious but not as photogenic as my tart. The dessert menu at Abigail's is very creative; I love the different headings! Be sure to check it out here, and be sure to note the photo of the sticky toffee pudding cake.

I'm looking forward to all of the baking adventures 2012 will have to offer!