Playing Host

I did it. This weekend I took the plunge and opened my home to guests (and by guest I mean friends of course). For Bax and I this was a pretty big and rare occurrence, we don't open our home to just anyone. Mostly this is due to the fact that while I enjoy the idea of entertaining (it's something I aspire to take on as an adult with an immaculate kitchen), my apartment is so tiny and I feel bad making people cram into it (I also don't believe that many could even fit inside if they wanted to). Alas, even with that caveat, the time finally came for me to open my home to a select few (after much analysis of the seating/space situation I decided 6, including me, was about the max) to not only see where most of the recipes on here transpired, but also to meet the elusive Baxter! 

Bax was all abuzz when I told her the news, which I was glad about as things like this can go either way with her (she has very strong opinions and is not afraid to let them be known). Since I love appetizers as dinner more than actual dinner (I like the ability to sample multiple things), everyone brought an app or dessert plus a beverage of their choosing (because the only thing I may in fact love more than food is wine) for an evening of basketball, food, and girl time. 

Bax's one request in having company was that they pay her in belly rubs. They obliged and she loved every minute of it. 

Perhaps my favorite part of gathering together friends is the opportunity to pull some new recipes out of the hopper (or off my Pinterest boards). Keeping with the app and dessert theme, I decided to try out one of each.

First up, a healthy twist on spinach and artichoke dip. I lamented the other day about my failure to conquer my current food of the year (the artichoke), so while I was happy to be incorporating it into a recipe, I already liked artichoke in this form so I don't technically count it as a step towards artichoke domination. Soon, though, I'm promising myself soon. 

Healthier Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients
Original recipe courtesy of Skinny Taste

• 1 jar (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
• 1 box (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Preparation

1. After spinach has thawed (don't defrost in microwave, just leave it sit out at room temperature for a couple hours), squeeze out as much of the water as possible. I used this amazing invention/Christmas present (see below) but paper towels also work

Best invention ever.

It spins water out in a flash! 

2. In a food processor, combine artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic, and scallions. Blend until coarsely chopped

3. Combine, in a large bowl, spinach/artichoke mixture with the remaining ingredients. Dump mixture into crock pot, smoothing so that it evenly covers the bottom of the crock pot

This would probably be better in a smaller crock pot, it looked a little lost in mine

4. Cook in crock pot on high for 2 hours. [I chose this method of cooking because I wanted to just serve it out of the crock pot so it would stay warm]. You can also bake in the oven at 375 F for 20-25 minutes

Ready to eat

For the closing course, I dug into the stash of rolos that I had in the cabinet from my first foray into rolo baking a few weeks back and pulled a recipe from my favorite baking blog to create these:

Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

Brought to my life courtesy of Sally's Baking Addiction

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened 
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar [if using salted peanut butter, reduce to 1/4 cup]
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup creamy unsalted peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp salt [omit if using salted peanut butter]
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 + 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 24 rolos

Preparation

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter with sugars

2. Add egg, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined

3. Mix in baking soda and flour, mixing until dough becomes moist and a dough ball is formed

4. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, unwrap rolos and cover cookie sheet with parchment paper

5. Once dough is chilled, scoop out 1 1/2 Tbsps of dough, create a pocket/hole in the middle of it, and insert rolo, gently molding dough around it to form a ball

6. Bake at 350 F for 9 minutes. Cookies will appear slightly underdone, but remove from oven and allow to cook completely on wire rack

*My aside is that I prefer this version of peanut butter cookies over the one above, so I may try that recipe with rolos at some point, but these were still another wonderful incorporation of rolos into my life!

Vegan Baking Take 2

Well folks, it's almost April and although it's freezing outside and I've yet to conquer my food of the year (why is it so hard to remember to buy an artichoke at market?!) I am doing a stellar job of overcoming my apprehension of going vegan in the kitchen. Before you get hysterical, don't worry, I'm not swearing off eggs and butter just yet, although after my latest endeavor I'm closer than I used to be. But that being said, sometimes it's just fun to mix things up and try something new.

A part of me has always loved baking, even when I wasn't so good at it, and as I've worked to fine tune my craft over the last year, there are definitely some aspects of baking that have become old hat to me. I equate it to driving. If you drive to work every day along the same route, there are times when you zone out and the next thing you know you're pulling in the parking garage at the office without the slightest memory of how you got there. I've found the same to be true in the kitchen. After you've been baking for a while, the process of creating cakes and cookies begins to repeat itself to the point that you can almost mix the ingredients in your sleep. When that happens it's sometimes nice to shake things up, take a new route, find an outside the box recipe, and challenge yourself. This is exactly what I did when deciding to begin my vegan baking journey.

I didn't jump feet first into this new arena. Instead, similar to my cooking journey, I dabbled my toes ever so slightly, building my confidence before upping the ante. I began with these during the Valentine's season. Somehow I missed blogging about them, but I used a heart shaped pan to make them holiday appropriate, since that's how I roll. They were amazing, well received, and a much needed confidence boost for my vegan baking confidence. 

I even took pictures...really not sure how these guys missed out on their blog fame

Better late than never I guess

Today at la officina, we had a surprise baby shower for the same coworker that I made the muffins for last month. We've had a decent amount of holidays and occasions for baked goods since I joined my current team and because I actually my coworkers (unlike the hell I escaped from) it gives me great joy to share my creations. With the joy of sharing also comes the need to live up to expectations. Not only does my competitive self have the need to constantly outdo my past works, but I have to walk the line of being ambitious without disappointing in my delivery. Thus, when the planning for today's surprise began a few weeks back the wheels in my head began to turn. After spending some time on the interweb going through my options, I finally decided on these. They were nothing short of amazing and I highly recommend that you make them ASAP.

Healthier Oreos

*I learned during this process that Oreos are already vegan [although highly processed]. Twist!?!

Ingredients

Recipe Courtesy of Chocolate Covered Kate

Makes about 24 sandwiches (using a 3 inch across cookie cutter)

Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder 
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 tsps pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup canola oil 
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp almond milk
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp agave nectar

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance spread 

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients for the cookies. Stir with a whisk until well blended

2. In a smaller bowl, combine all liquid ingredients for the cookies, also mixing with a whisk

3. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl, mixing until dough ball can be formed

4. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (I wouldn't recommend refrigerating overnight though as I found the dough needs to be somewhat soft to work with so it sticks together better)

5. Put dough in a plastic bag or wrap in saran wrap (I did the latter). While dough is tucked away, smash and mold it to begin softening it while also keeping it from getting too crumbly

6. Preheat oven to 300 F and line a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper

7. Remove dough from bag and roll out until thin (no need to flour surface). Using cookie cutter, cut into circles and place on a parchment paper covered baking sheet

8. Bake cookies for 8 minutes (depending on thickness). Allow to cool on tray for 10 minutes after removing from oven and prior to placing on cooling racks

9. While cookies are cooling, combine ingredients for icing and mix in an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Taste test and add more sugar if necessary

10. Once cookies are cool (at least 30 minutes) place a dollop of icing on one cookie and top with a second cookie, gently pressing together to form an oreo or "cookie sandwiches"

11. Store in refrigerator to harden icing (which I did over night), but I left them sit on my desk all day prior to the party and they held together beautifully. The icing was firmer and held together better than many of the non-vegan icings I've worked with in the past. Very impressed! 

Race Day with a Side of St. Patty's Day Festivities

It's that time again! The DC half (and full) marathon was Saturday and for the third year in a row I partook. Similar to last year, I kicked off my St. Patty's Day festivities before the sun was up on Saturday morning with a jog through the District. I think given how much pain my body was in yesterday, however, it may disagree with my use of the term "jog." Despite the threat of rain, it remained dry throughout the course of the run, which I was thrilled by (I've never had to do a race in the rain and was not ready to break that streak). And eventually, the finish line came and I could focus on the fun that lay before me.

Similar to last year, I dined the night before on my traditional pre-race pasta dinner. I made a sauce similar to last year's version, but this time over homemade noodles. Sadly, I didn't make the noodles myself (that would've been insanely ambitious the night before a race), but that's on the top of TF and my cooking to do list, so hopefully I will get to write about trying my hand at pasta making at some point this year. Instead, I used the next best thing, homemade noodles I got at the farmer's market last weekend. They were seriously so good, I may never eat boxed pasta again! 

Pre-Race Pasta Dinner

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat pasta
• 1 large (28oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsps Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1.  In a large skillet (I love my wok), gently saute garlic and onion in olive oil until golden

2. Add can of diced tomatoes to onion and garlic. Do not drain tomatoes prior to adding to skillet. Stir in Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper

3. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on medium-low until juices have boiled off, about 30 minutes. You can also cook for less time if you want a thinner sauce

4. While sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions on package. Add broccoli florets to boiling water/pasta with 3-4 minutes left in cooking time

5. Drain pasta, do not rinse, return to pot

6. Plate pasta and top with sauce...enjoy!

And after the race was over, I got to spend the rest of the day celebrating my favorite adult holiday. Naturally, this meant a seasonally appropriate baking project! Enter:

 St. Patty's Day Cake Balls

Ingredients

• 1 box vanilla cake mix
• Green food coloring
• 1 can vanilla frosting
• 1 and 1/2 lbs white baking chocolate
• Seasonally appropriate sprinkles

Preparation

1. Mix cake according to directions on box. Prior to pouring mix into pan, add green food coloring (it took a lot more than I expected, and to be honest I lost count, but it was more than a dozen)

2. Grease 9x13 baking pan and bake cake for about 25 minutes (see box for exact time)

3. Allow cake to cool for at least half an hour. Once cool, tear cake with a fork in a large bowl

4. Once cake is diced, mix with vanilla icing until moistened (it didn't take me the entire can, only about 3/4)

5. Roll cake/icing mixture into tablespoon size balls, place on wax paper, and chill in fridge for at least an hour (I always allow them to chill overnight to be on the safe side)

6. Melt chocolate in a large, microwave safe bowl, for 1 minute and then at 15 second intervals until completely melted

7. Dip cake balls, one at a time, into chocolate. Remove with a fork, shaking gently to remove excess chocolate

8. Place on wax paper to cool and top with seasonally appropriate sprinkles 

Hope everyone had a wonderful St. Patty's Day! I leave you with my favorite photo of the day, me and my tiny hat twin :)

A Very Happy Birthday Week

Good news everyone, I survived another birthday! Actually, as much as the underlying dread within me continues to rise each year, this actually panned out to be quite a wonderful birthday. Celebratory meals and drinks, well wishes, and most importantly, delicious birthday treats...what more could I ask for?!

In all truth, I felt very appreciated and loved by my friends and family. I had such a wonderful week that I decided to dedicate today's post to birthday week in review, because as per usual, I drug out the celebration for a solid week :)

Birthday week kicked off with brunch and a birthday cupcake from my favorite cupcakery (Baked and Wired) courtesy of Mother

Also courtesy of Mother, a spring shopping trip. (In case it's not completely obvious, mint is my color obsession for spring)

On my actual birthday I was greeted at work with these lovelies. Caution: they are like crack and you will want to eat them all in one setting...but you shouldn't :) The recipe was geniusly pulled from my pinterest board and can be found here. 

And after I was given the gift of a snowless snowday, I returned to work to find more treats...homemade lollipops. What the what?! Also super yummy.

Word of my love for tiny hats is spreading among my friends...I got this gem, which includes the words I'm a wee bit Irish (which I am!). It's also covered in glitter. I CANNOT wait to wear it next weekend!

And what is a birthday without dessert and wine (also known as my two greatest loves....after Bax of course)

Capping off the week, I had my family birthday celebration

Grandmom made my favorite birthday cake (yellow cake, chocolate frosting, with LOTS of sprinkles)

Sister came to town for the festivities

And, because it snows everywhere I am not...they had snow in Pennsylvania, so I at least got to touch some this year

And so concludes my 28th birthday's week of festivities. I'm capping off this week with my favorite annual race (the DC half) on Saturday, along with St. Patty's Day festivities and have some fun recipes planned for both. Can't wait to share! 

A Snowless Snow Day

Well, yet another birthday has come and gone and pretty much the highlight of my birthday was the promise of Snowquester coming to the District. I love, love, love a good snow storm [and more importantly, a snow day off work]. Just the other day I was lamenting how upset I was that it has been years since our last substantial snowfall or snow day in the District. With the impending storm I thought, finally, a birthday miracle, I'm being given the gift of snow!

Naturally, I waited with baited breath yesterday for the rain to begin, but nothing. Even when I returned home from my birthday happy hour, there was still no rain to be found. And so, Bax and I retired for the night, but each time I awoke from slumber I'd frantically look out my window like a giddy child to see if the snow had begun to fall. As morning was beginning to near and my hopes of a snow day were beginning to fade, it began. I was ultimately greeted by an email saying the feds (and most of the town) were closed for the day which made me happy and allowed me to catch up on my sleep. 

My Shepherd dog, however, was not happy. Despite the fact that we got to spend the day together, the weather was not her cup of tea [recall: she HATES to be damp]. When we ventured out for our morning walk I underestimated how much it was raining, and despite dressing her in her rain slicker, it wasn't enough (she was upset that I hadn't brought an umbrella). Needless to say, we ended our time outside in a spat and with her refusing to pee. The snow came down on and off throughout the day, but each time I just became increasingly angrier that it wasn't sticking. What a disappointment [Insert renewed desire to move to Colorado least I never feel snow on my person again]. 

The day was not a total loss though. I got to try a new, non-baking recipe and have spent the majority of the day getting caught up on Scandal. I'm officially obsessed with that show! I will also say that, in true Gian fashion, I am stretching my birthday festivities out throughout the course of the weekend and thus will share a full birthday recap in a later post. But for now, I present to you today's creation...inspired by the cold and my love for mac and cheese:

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

Based on this Runner's World Version

• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 medium cauliflower
• 1 cup whole-wheat penne pasta
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (I used a cheddar-blend)
• 2 Tbsps olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Italian herb seasoning
• 1 tsp minced onion seasoning
• Salt and black pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and bring a large pot of water to a boil

2. Remove stem and chop cauliflower into large chunks. Add to boiling water and cook for 25 minutes, or until tender

3. Scoop cauliflower out of water using strainer spoon and put in a food processor

4. While making cauliflower sauce, cook pasta in boiling water for five minutes

5. Add vegetable stock to cauliflower in food processor and begin to process. Continue by adding cheddar cheese, olive oil, and spices

I found the sauce to be almost apple sauce like, but it was a really quite divine!

6. Drain and rinse pasta to cool slightly. Combine pasta and sauce [I will not that I had a substantial amount of sauce and ended up tossing the pasta with some of the sauce and then just saving the rest for another batch of pasta at another time] 

7. Spread pasta coated in sauce evenly around in baking dish. Top with Parmesan and bread crumbs before baking. Bake 20 minutes or until bread crumbs begin to brown

Hey Rolo!

Confession time again. On this, the eve of my 28th birthday, I must confess that up until 2 days ago I had never had a Rolo. Yes, you read correctly. And, not only had I never had a Rolo, I was fairly certain they were disgusting and thus had no desire to try one at any foreseeable time in the future. 

So what brought the Rolo into my life? Well, work last week was particularly tense/stressful/crazy. And as much as it was all those things for me, it was even worse my manager. She is pretty much one of the nicest people that I've ever met (I chalk this up to her mid-western roots). Thus, it pained me greatly to see the toll that the week's events took on her. I'm not known for being an overly emotional or sensitive person (shocking I know). So, when people around me are upset, instead of offering a kind word or a hug, I bake for them. As I was trying to decide what exactly to bake her, it was brought to my attention that she loves Rolos. I was saddened by this news at first because I love to sample what I bake and wasn't thrilled about sampling whatever Rolo-laden delicacy I came up with. Putting my own selfish desires aside, I picked up a bag of Rolos at Target and got to work searching the interweb for the perfect Rolo themed baked good. [Side note, I caved and tried a Rolo. Turns out I love them and they are my new crack. I wish for us to never be apart].

How people baked before the interweb is beyond me. I'm old enough that I can remember life before the internet and smart phones (or even cell phones at all), but I am often in awe, especially when it comes to cooking, at what a miracle worker the interweb is. I can basically type in my cooking hopes and dreams and within seconds ideas runneth over. I ultimately went with a recipe I found in this blog post that honest to goodness could have been written by me! Seriously, a Friends reference?! Those just don't exist enough in the world any more...AND that was also my only frame of reference for Rolos before this baking experience. Apparently I'm not the only one that went an insane amount of time before discovering the Rolo?! Love it...and these cookies.

Brown Butter Rolo Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsps unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour + a little extra if dough needs firming
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup graduated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup toffee bits
• 1/8 cup miniature chocolate chips
• 10 Rolos, unwrapped and quartered

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and prep baking sheet 

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside

3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk butter constantly until foam forms and then subsides. Continue to whisk and cook until butter begins to turn a golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. [This part was VERY exciting for me because I'd been wanting to try my hand at browning butter for some time...Now I can cross that off the list too!]

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine and beat browned butter and sugars on medium-high until well combined

5. Beat in vanilla and egg until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture at low speed, beating just until incorporated. [Mine was a little greasy and soft after this step, so I added about 1/8 cup more flour to firm it up]

6. Stir in toffee bits, chocolate chips and Rolos. Chill dough for 10-15 minutes

7. Using a tablespoon, scoop out balls of dough, place on covered cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges are slightly golden. Cool on wire rack before serving

8. Wrap in decorative packaging and deliver to spread love through the bake!

*A note about the title of this post. I wasn't sure how to work this into the story for today's post, but I couldn't sign off without sharing the history behind my chosen title. [It's also possible that even with the following explanation that Sister is the only person who will get the reference]. Nonetheless, here goes. Back during my cross country road trip days (also known as my three years in law school) we would always travel through Rolla, Missouri when taking the northern route from Norman to Baltimore. During the first year Sister was my travel companion (along with my beloved Shepherd dog and her cousin Bella) and early on, I'm guessing due to some combination of sleep deprivation, boredom, and an excessive amount of caffeine and sugar, we became obsessed with Rolla, Missouri. We would call out, in a high/slightly dramatic voice "Hey Rolla" every time we traveled through it. And thus, today's title was born. TF became my travel compadre for years two and three and although I tried to get him to find the love for Rolla as well, it was never the same as passing through the town with Sister. In hunting for the first picture below I found some other fond memories from some of our trips and couldn't help but share. I think at some point I'll do a post on fabulous road trip snacks just so I can have an excuse to share more pictures. Until then...

"Hey Rolla!" [Yes, this picture was taken along the side of a major highway. We have no shame.]

Best travel puppies ever! Seriously, these two are amazing car dogs. They'd camp out on the back seat like friends and sleep the entire 1,300 mile trip with barely a peep.

Sometimes we did the trip in two days and sometimes we drove straight through. On the dreaded times when we drove straight through coffee was a must.

And lots of sugar

One of my all time favs. At only 4 months old, Bella was not afraid to take the wheel.

Sometimes we were ridiculous...I'm pretty sure the car is moving at this point. [This is why I'm not allowed drive anymore...well, one of many reasons]

And ever the dapper dresser. Shepherd loved staying in hotels the most.