Posts Tagged: Recipes

Eat

Microwave S’Mores

May 13, 2014

We've had our fire pit (which I managed to sorrrrt of reassemble post-tree-collision so that it functions while I figure out whether or not to buy a new one) for two years now, and have never made s'mores. This felt like something we needed to fix.

The only problem: as a city girl who genuinely loves camping but is completely at a loss when it comes to edible things and campfires (my hamburgers, without fail, end up being flipped right into the coals)…I'm not very good at making them. I basically just burn the marshmallows and call it a day. On the positive side, however, s'mores are good even when they're not especially good.

Entertaining

Fresh Mint Lemonade

April 24, 2014

When I first moved to LA, I found an apartment right off of the Sunset Strip and a job at an upscale-ish pizza place called Cheebo (the phonetic spelling of the Italian word for "food"). It wasn't too bad of a job - the food was pretty reasonably priced and lunchtime-focused, which meant that tips were only okay, but I liked my coworkers and really liked the staff meal that we got at the end of every shift. The part of it that I hated was when my manager asked me to work the brunch shift, because the brunch shift involved fresh-squeezed orange juice…and you know what's a major pain to make?

Fresh-squeezed orange juice. If you have never done this, let me tell you: you have no idea how many pieces of fruit it takes to make your teeny, tiny four-dollar glass of Vitamin C.

I think working at Cheebo gave me a bit of juice-making PTSD, because never since have I been enamored of the idea of fresh-squeezing my own anythings…but pregnancy does weird stuff, like make you all of a sudden need fresh lemonade RIGHT NOW.

ENTREES

Easy, Awesome Brisket With Vegetables

April 16, 2014

Course #2 of our Passover Dinner (the first I've ever made on my own) was yet another dish that's brand-new to me: brisket. But I was excited to add my aunt Debbie's recipe to my repertoire, because I have a big thing for inexpensive cuts of meat that you cook on low heat for ever and ever: I think they're just incredibly flavorful and delicious, and love how virtually unscrewupable they are. I also love the fact that you start them in the morning and then basically forget about them all day long, and then poof: dinner is ready, and you barely did a thing.

This dish easily serves 4-6, and makes for some seriously good leftovers (try putting the meat between slices of white bread the next day, oh my god yum). You can also try making this in your slow-cooker; just remember that you'll need about 8 hours of cooking if you do it that way.

(Click here for Course #1, Matzoh Ball Soup)

Recipes

Blueberry-Cinnamon French Toast

March 14, 2014

Suggestion for your weekend: make this.

It takes about five minutes total, and is a huge crowd-pleaser for all ages. The key to this recipe: use blueberry bread instead of regular bread (this is Pepperidge Farm Blueberry Swirl bread, which I think is delicious…but my son's obsession is on another level entirely: he insists on eating it every. single. morning, calls it "my muffin", and was literally still talking about it as he went to sleep last night).

SWEETS

Santa’s Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 24, 2013

I had a fantasy in my head of how the Santa Cookie-baking would go: on Christmas Eve morning, my son would perch on the counter and listen in rapt attention while I showed him how to sift together flour and baking soda. He'd help me stir the dry ingredients into the creamed butter and sugar, and then together we'd form little teaspoon-sized balls of dough and drop them onto parchment paper.

Problem Number One: I forgot to buy parchment paper.

Problem Number Two: Two-year-olds think that Buzz Lightyear is much more exciting than mixing.

Eat

Strawberry-Basil Fizz

September 5, 2013

When Kendrick and I got home from our Saturday adventures, it was that moment right before the sun sets when all you (or at least I) want to do is collapse into a hammock with an US Weekly. So that's what I did, and I was all relaxed and cozy...and then I turned the page and spotted a recipe for something called a Strawberry-Basil Rickey.

You know what makes those just-before-sunset-in-a-hammock moments even better?

A cocktail.

This particular recipe required things like fresh herbs and mortar and pestles and Cointreau, though, so as delicious as it looked, it wasn't going to happen. Not right then, anyway.

Eat

Cucumber Yogurt with Mint & Olive Oil

August 30, 2013

Doesn't that just look like a perfect storm of good things?

Last weekend, when we were wandering around the city, Kendrick and I passed a little frozen yogurt shop and peered in the window to read the menu of specialty concoctions. I was confused for a moment as to why anyone would put cucumber and olive oil on frozen yogurt (not that that's necessarily a bad idea, just a slightly confusing one), and then realized: oh. Not a frozen yogurt shop. A yogurt yogurt shop. (Chobani, specifically.)

We ended up continuing on our way without going in, but I kept thinking about that cucumber and olive oil yogurt all week long, and so today I thought I'd give it a shot myself.

Eat

Peanut Butter & Granola Apple Rings

August 19, 2013

The highlight of the breakfast the crew served at last week's shoot: Granny Apple rings covered in peanut butter and granola. They were so good, in fact, that I've been making them myself nearly every day since.

These apple rings are a great addition to a lunchbox, and the options are endless: all you really need are apples, peanut butter and granola, but I've been adding things like flaxseed (for a health boost), dried fruit and mini chocolate chips to mix it up.

Eat

Something Went Into My Kitchen And Emerged Deep-Fried, And That Is A Miracle

August 14, 2013

Deep frying freaks. Me. Out.

First of all, I never had any idea how it worked. I pictured enormous bubbling vats filled with million-degree oil-bombs, and if there's one thing I should stay very far away from it's bubbling vats filled with million-degree oil-bombs. I just didn't get it: you put your meat, fish or vegetable in...and then...what? Does it...float? Or do you have to brave the oil-bomb with a set of (heat-conductive) tongs? How do you know when things are hot enough, or when they're cooked through?

How do you not set the kitchen on fire?!

Anyway, shocker: it's easy. And not nearly as terrifying as I pictured.

Eat

Fettuccine with Sweet Tomato Sauce and Asparagus

August 9, 2013

I have a weird thing for Prego. I think it's because my mom used to use it as a base for our pasta dinners when we were growing up (just adding things like mushrooms, onions and meat to jazz it up). I mean, I totally get it: you're supposed to like 100% fresh sauce best, and yes, it's wonderful...but...

I also like Prego. I can't help it. It's sort of like McDonald's hamburgers versus the Black Label burger at Minetta Tavern: they're just totally different categories of food, and equally delicious in their own ways. I think, however, that what makes me like Prego is - rather unfortunately - the same thing that makes it a less-great option than homemade sauce: all that added sugar that's present in pretty much anything that you buy pre-made.

This pasta dish is fresh and light, and has that touch of sweetness that I'm looking for without actually being loaded up with sugar. I've been making this recipe (one of the first I ever wrote about, actually) for years, and have tweaked it to make it as straightforward and simple as possible - it takes about fifteen minutes start to finish, and is a major crowd-pleaser.

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