Coconut cupcakes

Okay, apparently we are all cupcake addicts. I'm glad I'm not alone. Although actually being alone with a tray of cupcakes is not a bad thing, in my opinion.

Today's cupcake is simple, tender and delicious. And it tastes like coconut, and you know if I can add coconut to anything I will (witness the coconut rice pudding and the coconut frosting on sis's wedding cake).

Coconut cupcakes (makes 21, recipe from Martha Stewart)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

**Mix the dry ingredients together (including the shredded coconut) with a fork and set aside.

**Cream the butter for three minutes, then slowly add the sugar and continue beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time.

**Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the coconut milk and the vanilla.

**Pour batter into prepared muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.

As much as I love Martha Stewart recipes, sometimes they are a bit quirky. This one makes 21 cupcakes, for example. Why? I want a cupcake recipe to make either 12 or 24, which seems logical. But they taste good, so I tried to put aside my OCD.

Martha calls for seven minute frosting with these, but I've never cared for it. It's just a bit marshmallowy for my taste, and while I love marshmallows, I do not want them on my cupcakes. Instead, I used the Magnolia Bakery creamy vanilla frosting that I posted about here, but I added toasted coconut instead of orange zest, along with a teeny tiny bit of coconut flavoring. Yum.

Need more proof of my cupcake addiction? Get more here, here, here and here.

Coconut cream pie

This weekend I was going to make a banana cream pie, because it sounded homey and comforting.

Naturally, I forgot to buy bananas when I went to the store and laziness prevented me from going out again. But banana cream pie is very easily transformed into coconut cream pie, especially if there is fancy schmany frozen young coconut* waiting in the freezer for the right occasion.

{just before adding whipped cream}

Coconut cream pie (adapted from The Joy of Cooking's recipe for cream pie)

1 baked 9" pie shell (see my recipe and instructions here, bake empty at 425F for 12 minutes)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
Pinch of salt
2 cups milk (or 1 cup milk + 1 cup coconut milk)
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded coconut, if desired
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

*Toss the sugar, flour and salt in the top of a double boiler. Whisk together. Slowly add milk, whisking until smooth.

*Cook over boiling water about 10 minutes, until thickened.

*Gradually add a bit of the hot mixture to the eggs, beating with a fork. Add a little more, slowly. (If you simply dump the hot liquid in, you will end up with scrambled eggs, so take it slow).

*Once you've added a cup or so to the eggs, pour it all back in the pan and whisk. Continue cooking until the mixture is very thick, approximately 10 more minutes.

*Remove from heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally.

*Once the mixture is cool, pour it into the pie shell. Stick it in the fridge for a few hours to allow it to set and then top with freshly whipped cream.

Enjoy!

*My mom found frozen young coconut at one of the local asian markets. It is packaged in a little plastic bag. Once you defrost it, you can use it as you would shredded coconut, but the flavor is amazing and the texture is way better than the usual dried stuff. Of course, normal dried coconut will work just fine in this pie recipe, although the flavor will be less intense.

Curry in a hurry

I had all these fabulous meals planned this week (thank you, Martha, for the lovely fall meal suggestions) but life happened, in the form of several fun evening outings, and the weather intervened as well, delivering 90 degree weather when all I want to think about is roasted veggies and scarves. Sigh.

What's a girl to do? Well, I made a 15 minute meal. I keep a little jar of red curry paste in the fridge at all times. As far as I know, the stuff lasts forever (if this isn't true, someone please let me know before I inadvertently poison someone) but I usually can't keep a jar around for more than a few months. Coconut milk is one of my random pantry staples, mostly for curry, but also for coconut rice pudding, which is to die for. You can use any protein you have on hand (or none at all) and I happened to have tofu. If D were home I probably would have opted for chicken, to be slightly more manly.

Coconut milk, red curry paste, basil and tofu

All you have to do is open the coconut milk, dump it into a pot over medium heat, stir in a generous amount of red curry paste and add whatever veggies (frozen, in my case) or protein you have on hand. Cook gently until the veggies are done to your liking. Serve it over rice, or eat it as a soup. I had fresh basil from my little plant, so I added it in. Curry is one of those weird foods that is good with either basil or cilantro, and I don't really understand how that's possible.

I used light coconut milk, but I think it would be vastly improved (although fattier) if I'd had real coconut milk in my pantry. I think this every time I use light coconut milk, but then I never follow through. Note to self: Buy real coconut milk.

Barbie cake!

The makings of a quadruple Barbie cake. Because we are all about fulfilling long delayed childhood dreams for those we love. Also, we like a baking challenge.

{quadruple barbie cake}

We bought a Wonder Mold, three extra doll cake picks, one small package of white fondant. Optional: decor of your choice - we picked out silver food spray (because how could I resist?) and some sparkles and I already had some gel food coloring. This is all cheaper if you strategically use Michael's coupons but in hindsight I'd probably just order everything online because three trips to Michael's (my personal hell) in one week nearly unhinged me.

I picked out our recipes. This would have been much faster if we used cake mix. Normally, I have nothing against cake mix in a time crunch and if you make your own frosting most people will never know. The Barbie cake dilemma is that the ratio of cake to frosting is way off. You have a big slab of cake with just a small outside layer of frosting, so I was concerned that the cake mix taste would be too prominent.

I made a master shopping list.

D and I brainstormed decorating ideas and came up with some sketches. We spent waaaay more time talking about these cakes than any sane couple ever would. We're firmly united in our love of ridiculous projects.

I made a schedule:
Tuesday night - bake chocolate and red velvet cakes.
Wednesday night - bake semolina and coconut-lime cakes, make french buttercream frosting.
Thursday night - re-whip french buttercream, make cream cheese frosting, make chocolate glaze, frost all cakes, make fondant bodices and set aside.
Friday - transport (rock solid from the overnight refrigeration) cakes out to the desert, stick the bodice picks in at the last minute.

It worked out pretty well, but you probably won't be surprised to hear that we were up until 2 am on Thursday night. If I'd been able to take a half day off of work it wouldn't have been an issue, but I wasn't about to tell my boss I needed time off to make an enormous Barbie cake.

Here are the ladies and the recipes I used for each of them.

{coconut lime cake with a french buttercream crumb coat under the lime glaze, decorated with coconut flakes}

{red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, an attempt at ruffles}

{lemon-rosemary semolina cake with french buttercream frosting, scalloped detail}

{double chocolate cake with chocolate glaze frosting, gradated sprinkle effect}

Recipe notes: 

Everything was a single batch except the chocolate frosting which was doubled. The cake mold holds 5 - 6 cups of batter, which meant some of these cakes had more batter than I could use. I filled the mold 3/4 full each time and if there was leftover batter then I poured it into little ramekins and baked them for snacking. Cake fuel!

We've made the coconut lime cake from Smitten Kitchen before so we knew it would be good. I think next time I might want to try subbing in some coconut milk for the buttermilk. I love coconut, so I can't get enough. I did a crumb coat with some of the french buttercream I made for the lemon rosemary semolina cake, then drizzled the lime glaze over it and then just packed coconut flakes on top.

I'm not a huge red velvet fan but it's always a crowd pleaser so I searched for a recipe online. The one I used was very moist but had enough food coloring that I could taste it in the finished product and it squicked me out. I'd probably make it again but I'd cut down on the food coloring by 3/4 and see if it was still red enough to give the effect. The cream cheese frosting that goes with the recipe (scroll down to see it) is good and all I did was add a little splash of lemon juice for extra tartness and slightly less powdered sugar. It made the frosting a bit soft, but I'll take taste over structural integrity any day. I was going for this ribbon effect but I didn't have anything even closely resembling the right tip, so it turned out a little wonky. It didn't help that it was 100 degrees out and I kept having to stop and stick everything in the fridge to cool down.

The lemon rosemary semolina cake was very, very good and will get added to my binder. It isn't very sweet and is slightly reminiscent of cornbread. The rosemary is just a hint of flavor, I might even up it next time. This cake doesn't need frosting at all, but if you have to frost it then Brave Tart's faux French buttercream is a good option. The frosting is rich but not very sweet. If you aren't a fan of butter, you won't like it, but it paired really well with the simple cake. I generally make this Swiss buttercream, which uses egg whites. The French buttercream uses egg yolks and the taste ends up being almost like ice cream. Like Swiss buttercream, it must be eaten at room temperature. If it's even the slightest bit cold, all you taste is butter.

The double chocolate cake remains the only chocolate cake I'll happily devour with or without frosting. I used the emergency chocolate frosting recipe and they paired perfectly. It was the simplest one to decorate because I just used an offset spatula to slather the frosting on and then added sprinkles.

And here is a rather grainy cell phone picture of the ladies in action that night. We bought sparkler candles, placed one on each cake and crossed our fingers that we wouldn't end up with any flaming Barbies.

Adventures in fondant coming tomorrow ...

Coconut rice pudding - as promised

I love rice pudding, and I love coconut. I don't remember where on the internet I found this recipe, but it was an instant favorite. It takes very little effort, but you do need at least 45 minutes to let it simmer on its own. There is very little prep involved, other than opening cans of coconut milk. Speaking of coconut milk, this is one occasion where light is definitely okay. The pudding is incredibly rich, and you won't miss the extra fat at all.



Coconut rice pudding (makes a lot - probably 10 servings)
3 cans coconut milk, 14 oz. each (I used light)
1/2 cup sugar (increase slightly if your coconut is unsweetened)
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened)
2/3 cup arborio rice (you can use other rice, but this one is the best)
3/4 tsp salt
Dash of vanilla extract

Combine everything except the vanilla in a large saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat and then simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pudding thickens up considerably and it's hard to resist licking the spoon. Once the rice is cooked and the pudding is thick, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.



Tastes equally great hot or cold, in my opinion. And especially lovely with some fresh nutmeg grated over the top.

Skincare situation

I have skincare confusion. Ever since I turned thirty I've been feeling like I should have a more strategic skincare system. But figuring it out felt like such a barrier that I managed to put it off for over two years. My skin is fine. It's dry but not particularly sensitive and for years I've just been washing it with Philosophy's Purity face wash and then using a lotion with SPF during the day and a thicker lotion at night. I'm definitely noticing more lines and dark spots as I get older and this fall, in a fit of good intentions, I buckled down and read a bunch of articles online and then came up with my own plan. I researched options, loaded up my various online carts* and bit the bullet (wincing at the cost - apparently looking ageless comes at a price, which isn't really surprising).

I stuck with my little routine religiously for two months, but when I started running out of stuff I just switched over to slathering coconut oil on my face twice a day and you know what? Works just as well, as far as I can tell, except that it does a better job moisturizing and a $5 jar will last me an entire year, probably.

I now wash my face nightly with Purity, then put on a generous layer of coconut oil and let it sit while I brush my teeth, etc. I wipe off the excess gently with a washcloth before I go to bed, but only because I have bangs and prefer not to saturate them with oil while I'm sleeping. I don't soap my face in the morning, but I do wipe it down well with cold water, then rub in a thin layer of coconut oil and let it sit before putting on my moisturizer with SPF (still using that Aveeno stuff pictured above although I might go back to Neutrogena Healthy Defense once it's out).

Once a week I use the Microdelivery Peel system from Philosophy (I've actually been in love with this product for years but was never consistent about using it before) and follow it up immediately with a thick layer of coconut oil.

I was afraid initially that straight oil might clog my pores but I haven't had any issues with it and it's been three months now. Of course, your mileage may vary. As I mentioned, my skin isn't sensitive or prone to break outs, but it is extremely dry. Yay for cheap solutions!

I'm still open to suggestions, though, if you have anything you couldn't live without ...

* If you're curious, here's what was on my shopping list, what I ended up purchasing, and how I liked it:

A serum (with vitamin C, which is supposed to help with dark spots) - I picked Philosophy's When Hope is Not Enough serum and then bought their Vitamin C powder that you can mix in. Verdict - I went through the entire bottle of this and didn't notice any difference. Bummer, because I normally love their stuff, obvs.

A daytime lotion with brightening agents (vitamin C or soy) - I got Aveeno Positively Radiant in SPF 30. Verdict - it's fine, although I think I had an adjustment period where this made my face slightly red immediately after application (it would calm down within 20 minutes or so). I don't think this is the most moisturizing option, but when I'm pairing it with the oil it's fine. I haven't noticed the brightening effect, though.

A nighttime lotion with retinol (for fine lines) to use a few times a week - Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair. Verdict - I used this for a while several years ago and definitely noticed that my skin looked brighter and tighter, so it was a no brainer for me to go back to it. I haven't been great about using it the last few months because it's been so dry that I'm reluctant to risk making my skin any drier. I also don't love the feel or the smell, but as soon as the weather calms down I'm going to suck it up and try again.

An eye cream with retinol (ditto) - RoC Retinol Correxion, based on online reviews. Verdict - I've been inconsistent with this for the same reason as the lotion. It feels fine, though, so I'm more likely to use it nightly.

Weekly facial peel - I've been using Philosophy's Microdelivery peel every once in a while for years and looove it, so I stuck with it and just resolved to do it weekly and not feel guilty about it. Previously I was hoarding it but it's easier to justify the ridiculous expense when my other main facial product is coconut oil.

Not originally on my list, but I got it with my Sephora points at checkout and it turned out to be a lifesaver - Josie Maran's argan oil. Verdict - amazing, but the insane cost per ounce is what pushed me to give the coconut oil a try. I honestly don't find there to be a huge difference between the argan oil and the coconut oil in terms of outcome. The argan oil absorbs more quickly and you use less of it, but they ultimately moisturize equally well for me.

Tomato-coconut braised chicken and couscous

There haven't been a lot of recipes here lately because I've been busy and everything we eat has been of the throw-it-together variety. And it's hard to share those meals, because I don't have recipes and I'm lucky if I can even remember what I did. And even if I do remember, they're frequently decent but uninteresting and not really worthy of sharing.

But every once in a while I get lucky. Braised chicken thighs in a dish that ended up being vaguely Indian, because I had a sweet potato to use up and I decided to add some coconut milk, so garam masala seemed like the logical spice pairing.

{tomato-coconut braised chicken and couscous}

This is good. Good enough that I'd like to try to write down the gist of the recipe so that I could replicate it sometime. It starts, as most good things do, with a pile of sliced onions and some spice (garam masala, in this case). And then you braise some chicken, which is a thoroughly reliable cooking method for those of us who are just not so good with meat and quail at the thought of having to figure out exact cooking times. And at the very end, you stir in some couscous, to absorb the liquid and give the meal some heft.

The instructions for this dish make it seem more complicated than it is, but that's just because I gave you a lot of detail. And remember - you can adjust as needed. Swap veggies or spices or liquids. Add more liquid if you need it, add more couscous if you'd like. But I'll probably make it exactly this way again. 

Tomato Coconut Braised Chicken and Couscous (serves 4, probably with some leftover couscous)

3 - 4 yellow onions, sliced
A glug of olive oil, for the pan
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 carrots, chopped (just because I had them - you could leave them out)
1 - 2 tablespoons garam masala (one of my favorite spice blends, I get mine premade from the Indian market)
Large pinch of flaky salt (or whatever, in whatever amount you like)
3/4 cup red wine (totally optional - I just needed to use up the tail end of a bottle)
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz), not drained
4 - 6 chicken thighs (I used bone in, but skinned them)
Extra liquid, as needed (I think I used an additional cup of beef broth, just because it was open, but you could use water or more tomatoes, or whatever)
1 large sweet potato, chunked (also optional, but it was sooo good in this dish)
1 can light coconut milk (14 oz)
3/4 cup whole wheat couscous

:: You want to use a large saucepan with a lid. I have a large straight sided saute pan (similar to this one, but in stainless steel), and it works beautifully here. 

:: Saute the onions in the olive oil over medium heat, until they're soft and starting to brown and caramelize (maybe 10 - 15 minutes).

:: Meanwhile, chop your carrots and press your garlic. Get out your garam masala, open your can of tomatoes. Take the skin off your chicken if you'd like.

:: When the onions are ready, toss in your carrots and garlic. Saute for another few minutes, then add the garam masala and stir for a minute, to get the spice incorporated.

:: Pour in the red wine (if using) and your can of tomatoes. Stir it up, add a pinch of salt. Place the chicken thighs in the pan.

:: If the chicken isn't covered by liquid (not swimming in liquid, just a very thin layer over the top), then add a bit of extra liquid to bring it up. I used broth, but you could use water if you'd like, or more tomatoes.

:: Let it come to a simmer, cover the pan and lower the heat. It'll need to cook for at least 45 minutes to get that nice falling off the bone tenderness.

:: After about 15 minutes, toss in the chunks of sweet potato. It takes a little less time to cook, so it doesn't need to be in there the whole time. Stir, turn the chicken over if you'd like, replace the lid, walk away.

:: Check it at 45 minutes to see if the chicken is tender and the sweet potatoes are done.

:: If ready, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside. Stir in the coconut milk. Bring it to a simmer and let it cook for a couple minutes, without the lid.

:: Stir in the couscous, turn off the heat, replace the lid. Give it at least five minutes to absorb. You aren't going to have light fluffy couscous - it just hydrates and thickens up the sauce and it's amazing. If you feel like you have way too much liquid, you can add a bit more couscous.

:: Add the chicken back to the pan, serve. Eat alone, or with naan.

Also very excellent cold out of the fridge the next day. I had way more couscous than chicken (only used 3 thighs) so I ate the leftover couscous on it's own. If you're vegetarian, you could still do this but leave out the chicken and maybe add more potatoes and I think it would be great.

P.S. - There are some nice variations in the comments! You guys are amazing. This is probably my favorite kind of cooking (start from a base and wing it) so it's great to see everyone chiming in with their own spin on it. 

Coconut lime revenge cake

or ... the post in which I apologize and eat my words.

D and I had a conversation in the car over the weekend and he mentioned that he wanted to make a boulder cake at which point, instead of asking the logical question (um, what is a boulder cake?*), I made the mistake of scoffing at him and stating you can't make a cake. Yes, I said it. I'm not proud of it. It just came out somehow. I think I meant you've never made a cake or maybe I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you eat cake because you don't even really like it.

And so, solely to prove me wrong, he produced this ...

{coconut lime cake}

It's Deb's coconut lime cake, but with the added benefit of cream cheese frosting. We served it last night for an impartial jury (aka, mutual friends) and we all agreed it was amazing. Revenge is very, very sweet.

{lime coconut cake}

So, I admit I was completely wrong. I will never again tell Dustin he can't do something (unless I'm secretly hoping that he'll do it just to prove me wrong - maybe I can leverage this system to get more desserts).

*Turns out a boulder cake is exactly what it sounds like - a cake carved into the approximate shape of a boulder and decorated to look like a rock. And no, it's not a thing. Dustin just came up with it on the spur of the moment. And don't worry - it's coming, probably in the near future.

Food index

I've rounded up all my favorite kitchen gear into this post, if you're curious.

My Thanksgiving prep plan is right here.

Sweet treats

See my wedding dessert buffet tips here. And my wedding cake tips here. And how to glue together gingerbread houses here. And how to make stained glass windows for your gingerbread house here. My wedding recipe Excel spreadsheet is here. And the cookie spreadsheet explanation is here.

Homemade Peeps are here (couldn't figure out what category those belonged in!)

Greek almond bars are here.

Salted caramel sauce is here.

Cilantro lime sorbet (tequila optional) is here.

Emergency chocolate frosting is here (takes 2 minutes and three ingredients).

Quadruple Barbie cake logistics post is here and the fondant post is here.

Pastry like things
Blackberry tart with vanilla ice cream
Brioche with chocolate ganache

Chocolate pavlova (gluten free, dairy free dessert)
Croissants (recipe link + my tips)
Key lime meringue tart
Key lime tart with gingersnap crust (ridiculously good)
Scones
Strawberry shortcake
And more shortcake thoughts
Whole lemon tart (SK recipe)
Zesty lemon bars

Cookies
:: Freezing cookie dough ::

Almond crescents Apricot sandwich cookies
Caramel cream cookies
Chocolate blizzard cookies
Chocolate chip cookies
Indoor smores
Jam pockets
Gingerbread houses
Linzer hearts
Milk chocolate cookies
Prettiest sugar cookie tips
Sugar cookies

Cup/cakes
Cake pictures + links
Caramel cake

Carrot cake (best carrot cake, hands down)
Coconut cupcakes
Coconut lime revenge cake

Double chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting
Lemon ginger muffins
Lemon debutante cake
Margarita cupcakes
Meyer lemon pound cake + swiss meringue buttercream frosting (wedding cake!)
Obama cupcakes (make your own colored sprinkles!)
Gingerbread snacking cake
Pumpkin cupcakes
THE CAKE (chocolate cake with fudge frosting)
Vanilla bean + orange cupcakes

Pies
Basic pie crust
Apple pie with pecan crumb topping
Coconut cream pie
Lemon meringue pie
Perfect graham cracker crust tip

Puddings
Coconut rice pudding
Real tapioca pudding

Simple vanilla pudding

Savory delights

My method for freezing meals is here. My thoughts on the Real Simple one month meal plan are here and the recipe reviews are here. 


Meat (related - my decision to eat meat is discussed here)
Baked ziti(ish) casserole
Burgers, summer style
Chicken in cashew nut sauce
Chile verde

Meat + veggie balls
Pearl couscous with shrimp
Pizza, weeknight
Pressed sandwiches (can also be veggie)
Sage + rosemary crusted pork chops
Savory bread pudding (just bacon, can be made veggie)
Seared fish with tomatoes (greek)
Souvlaki (greek meat skewers)
Taco night (just photos)

Tomato braised chicken and couscous
Tuna + chickpea salad (5 minute lunch)

Non-meat
Avocado pasta sauce (sounds weird, sooo good)
Baked barley with caramelized onions and mushrooms
Baked macaroni and cheese (with sage + wild mushrooms)
Black bean burgers
Black lentils with caramelized onions
Butternut squash pasta - FAIL
Cabbage and onions from Orangette
Coconut curried lentils
Caramelized onions
Classic quiche

Couscous salad with roasted veggies

Eggplant marinara(ish)
Green beans + tofu (Trader Joe's hack)

Orzo salad with feta and bell peppers
Paneer, homemade
Pasta dough, by hand
Pasta with kale, lentils and caramelized onions
Penne with zucchini, basil and mint

Pesto quinoa salad
Pizza, summer (squash/potato and tomato/feta)

Quiche, leek + red bell pepper
Red lentil dal

Risotto with butternut squash and mushrooms
Savory apple + onion tart
Spaghetti sauce, classic
Summer squash risotto

Tahini lemon quinoa
Thai red curry
Tomato + mozzarella + basil salad
Veggie lasagna
Walnut pesto

Other

Breads and/or breakfasts

Avocado toast

Avocado toast with poached egg
Bolillos
Brioche with chocolate ganache
Carrot bran muffins

Cinnamon rolls
Cornbread, original recipe
Cornbread, even easier
Croissants (recipe link + my tips)
Fly off the plate rolls (good for Thanksgiving)

Granola
Granola bars from Summer
Green smoothies
Lemon ginger muffins

Monkey bread
Pancakes, hippie style

Pancakes, apple-sage-cardamom
Pumpkin waffles
Naan
No knead bread
Savory bread pudding (just bacon, can be made veggie)
Scones
Steel cut oats (freezer ready)
Veg heavy breakfast suggestions (scrambled eggs with broc, etc)
Waffles (light as air)
Working with yeasted bread, a primer

Sides
Applesauce
Asian slaw

Asparagus, roasted
Black bean salad
BBQ sauce (not quite perfect)
Broccoli crunch salad

Cabbage, braised or sauteed
Cauliflower with mustard lemon butter sauce

Cauliflower, roasted
Chunky spiced apples
Creamy Mexican style Caesar dressing
Lemon potatoes (greek)

Mashed potatoes, the best
Mexican rice, perfect
Paneer, homemade
Parsley dip, two ways
Potato (+ apple) latkes
Potato salad (the best! vinegar based)

Roasted root vegetables
Shishito peppers, blistered (best snack)
Tomatillo salsa
Tzatziki (cucumber-yogurt dip, greek)
Zucchini fries, baked


Drinks
Our double blind cheap beer tasting party post is here!
Christmas tea

Czech beer
Favorite bubblies
Fuerza Malbec 2005
Saddlerock winery
Summer sangria
Greyhounds with a twist
The rattler (habanero tequila + grapefruit)
The cranhattan (holiday cocktail)
Bourbon with grapefruit and mint
Tarragon cocktails (link lower in post)
Basil-mint mojitos for a crowd
Cupid's cup cocktail - strawberries, St. Germaine, prosecco


Entertaining
Bridal shower
Gingerbread house party
Pizza + prosecco dinner party


Restaurants
Border Grill (happy hour)

Bottega Louie (macarons!)

El Atacor #11

Five Guys (vs. In'n'Out)

Huckleberry (salted caramel square)
Pizzeria Mozza
Clementine Bakery

Vanilla Bakeshop (mango cupcakes)

Not cooking
CSA info

Garden bounty

Grilled cheese (ode to kraft singles)
Hot sauce!
Mango addiction

Mini licorice allsorts
New York edition

Protein shake
Wine + cheese on the porch
Whole Kitchen frozen pad thai

Valbreso feta

Coconut curried red lentils

Will you kill me if I post yet another lentil recipe? I just don't get sick of them. It's an addiction.

Luckily, unlike many of my other addictions, this one is cheap and healthy. (Don't look at me like that - I'm talking about my love of expensive cookware and fluffy cupcakes).

{like almost all lentil recipes, it isn't particularly photogenic}

This recipe combines lentils and coconut milk, and creates an insanely delicious meal. It smells heavenly too. Like many Indian dishes, it has a somewhat intimidating list of ingredients, but if you pre-measure your spices you won't run into any problems.

This is what I think of as a weekend slow cooker recipe, because it only takes two hours so you can't go to work and leave it. If you're in a rush, I think you could easily just go ahead and simmer it gently in a pot on the stove. It will probably take approximately 45 minutes if you choose to do it this way.

Coconut, Tomato and Lentil Dhal (serves 4, from Best Ever Recipes for your Slow Cooker)

30 ml/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, very finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 carrot, diced
10 ml/2 tsp cumin seeds
10 ml/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
2.5 cm/1 inch piece fresh ginger root, grated
10 ml/2 tsp ground turmeric
5 ml/1 tsp mild chili powder
5 ml/1 tsp garam masala*
225g/8 oz/1 cup split red lentils
400 ml/14 fl oz/1 2/3 cups boiling vegetable stock
400 ml/14 flz oz/1 2/3 cups coconut milk (I used light and it was perfectly fine)
5 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used one can of diced tomatoes instead)
juice of 2 limes
60 ml/4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper
25g/1 oz/1/4 cup sliced, toasted almonds

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until softened, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the garlic, carrot, cumin, mustard seeds and ginger to the pan. Cook for 3 -4 minutes, stirring, until the seeds begin to pop, the aromas are released and the carrot softens slightly.

3. Add the ground turmeric, chili powder, and garam masala to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until the flavors begin to mingle.

4. Tip the mixture into the ceramic cooking pot. Add the lentils, stock, coconut milk and the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well and cover the pot with the lid.

5. Cook on high for 2 hours, or until the lentils are soft, stirring halfway through the cooking time. Stir the lime juice and the cilantro into the dhal, check the seasoning and cook for an additional 30 minutes (if you're making it on the stove, do this after about 35 minutes and cook for an additional 10 minutes). Serve with toasted almonds (I skipped this because I'm lazy).

*Good garam masala is the key to this recipe. The spice mixture is readily available at Indian markets. If you aren't lucky enough to have a source, you can read a recipe for the mixture here.

Naan recipe coming tomorrow...

Recovering - green smoothies

I've been trying green smoothies lately. I'm not 100% convinced, people.

{green smoothie}

This is tasty and all, but so far nothing miraculous has happened, which is kind of what I was led to expect based on the internet ravings. Shouldn't my skin be glowing by now?

{smoothie making}

Currently blending:
About 1/3 - 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk (not the kind in the carton!)
A generous splash of orange juice or, in a pinch, cranberry juice
1/2 small banana
As much frozen kale or spinach as I can fit in my little blender (probably 1.25 cups)

It is surprisingly filling, which I think is down to the fat in the coconut milk. I started out with less green and a whole banana, but if I'm making one for D and one for myself then I just give us each half a banana and it's still sweet enough for me. And then I ran out of bananas completely and I can now report that it's fine without, but better with. I usually thin the smoothie with a bit of orange juice but I've used cranberry juice and if you are juice averse you could use coconut water or something similar. The frozen greens are the kind in the bag from Whole Foods, not the box of chopped frozen spinach. It probably works with the boxed kind but I haven't tried it. Also, the Whole Foods generic coconut milk is the cheapest I've found anywhere. No, they do not pay me but they are the only grocery store that I can easily walk to and that's why I mention them all the time. They have a reputation for being really pricey but their generic stuff is on par with TJ's.

This experiment started pre-Thanksgiving, but it's very appropriate after a week of leftovers overload. I have holiday food portion control issues and then I get in a bad cycle where I eat too much dinner and then don't feel hungry enough for breakfast and then it repeats, over and over. I've found that on days when I can't face my usual breakfast of eggs the smoothie is the best solution and it can nip that cycle in the bud without triggering the sugar cravings I get from most commercially made smoothies.

Whew. I guess I get why people talk about them so much. Apparently once you start discussing green smoothies you can't figure out how to stop. I'm not even that obsessed, I swear.

Finally Friday

I'm glad to see some other coconut lovers out there! I'll post the coconut rice pudding recipe next week.

This weekend I am going to:

*Go to the gem show. It's chock full of jewelry making supplies - I am making a list before I go and only bringing cash. I've learned my lesson the hard way, because last year I fell madly in love with a pricey stand of teeny tiny sapphires and even at a discount, that doesn't come cheap. Em, you are fully responsible for controlling my behavior.

*See Bajofondo at the Roxy! If you haven't already heard them, you must check them out.

*Take a tour of the new Marmol Radzinger house.

*Cook! The temperature is supposed to drop below 70 at some point, so I think I can make a fall-ish sort of meal and get away with it.

Anyone else have good plans for the weekend?

Crispy shallots

One of the deviled egg recipes for last weekend included crispy shallots, which meant I had to conquer my fear of deep frying. I've never done it because I've always been afraid that I'll catch the kitchen on fire.

But look! Success!



Full disclosure - there was a tiny fire. But I think I could prevent that in the future.

I used this recipe and it was perfect, except for the part about the "small saucepan," which worked great for the initial cooking, but immediately boiled over on the second round. This is when the fire occurred. Luckily I was able to turn the flame off, pour the shallots into the prepared sieve and set the oil coated saucepan down on another counter. I almost considered giving up at this point but realized that the small saucepan was giving me a tiny surface area, which is basically the last thing you want when you're trying to quickly cook something. So I poured the oil into my favorite large pan*, got the oil back up to temp, dropped the shallots in, and BOOM - magic. The final product is so delicious that it was hard not to eat all of them before I got to the party.

One other modification - the recipe tells you to use a slotted spoon to transfer the shallots after the first cooking. But since you're already going to use a mesh sieve for the second transfer, it makes more sense to use it the whole time. I just set a small mesh sieve up over a large 2 quart glass measuring cup and poured the oil right into it. It was easy to pour the oil back in the pan to get it up to the higher temperature, and a lot less messy than trying to spoon a bunch of shallots out of hot oil.

Turns out there are tons of different methods for making crispy shallots and now I'm curious about them. The one I used was essentially a double fry method - you do a long slow cook at a lower temperature and then bump up the heat for a flash fry to crisp them up. But this Ina Garten recipe does a really long, slow cooking with no flash fry at the end. I'm curious how that would work.

Small note about frying and oils - I'm obviously a frying novice, but I'd like to point out that you want to make sure you're working with an oil that has a high enough smoke point. This recipe gets you up to 350 degrees. Canola oil is usually a safe bet, but if you want to make them paleo friendly you can use refined coconut oil. It's important that it's refined! Refined coconut oil can safely get up to 350 degrees, which doesn't leave you much wiggle room so make sure you're watching the thermometer. The temp drops down as soon as you add the shallots and never gets back up to 350, so you don't need to maintain it long. The oils I looked at in Whole Foods all had labels with the smoke point on them, which made it much easier to figure out.

Save your jar, because you can pour the oil back in after the frying and use it. It'll be flavored like shallots, and it will be delicious.

* I'm still deeply obsessed with our stainless steel pans, which have held up to daily abuse for the last five years. Of course, it's been so long that the original set isn't sold anymore, which makes me sad. But if you are going to have just one amazing pan, let it be a straight sided stainless steel braising pan, about 12 inches across and 2 - 3 inches deep (it holds about 3 quarts). I had the Emeril version, which I think was just a slightly less expensive model from All-Clad. But if I had to, I'd splurge on the All-Clad high end version, or see if they have any other slightly lower end options available. This one looks most similar to what I have.

The weekend, briefly

It was one of those transition weekends - chilly enough that you can tell fall is coming, warm enough to keep eking out a little more summer. These in between times are my favorite.*

We were being productive this weekend so we were inside a lot, but we snuck out to pick up our quarterly wine shipment at the vineyard.

{olfa}

{coconut popsicle}

{sprouting}

{saddlerock}

{rocky road}

While being productive I also re-watched the entire last season of Dexter. Just to be fully ready for the new season coming up. My TV watching time goes way up when I have sewing to do.

* Even if we never really had summer here and part of me feels like it's going to suddenly pop out and surprise us with an October heatwave. It could happen, guys.

Once a month meal planning - January

Trying out this new thing, where I only plan monthly instead of weekly. I don't know that I'll do this indefinitely, but January is always a rough month for me and this one will be particularly insane. Work is crazy for me, D is going to be studying a lot, we're going to be moving. I didn't take the moving thing into account when I made this schedule, so part of me feels like I've already failed, but I'll adjust as necessary.



I've always been a weekly meal planner but I'm a fairly repetitive cook. I tend to make the same few dishes regularly, so I figured - why not run with it? Those of you who like to make new things all the time will probably die of boredom just looking at my list. I did have that month where I tried making a different (new) dish every weeknight and it was fun, but not sustainable for me.

What I did here was assign each night of the week a different theme. Mondays are spiralizer nights (and you'll notice that this month I'm just sticking with our favorite - sweet potato noodles with bolognese). Tuesdays are lentils, and this month I'm alternating between two of my favorite recipes. Wednesdays are crockpot nights as long as it's chilly. Thursdays are for baked potatoes and Fridays are for whatever can be made as fast as possible, because I have a three hour weekly meeting on Friday evenings and by the time I get home I'm exhausted and starving.

I've front loaded the recipes that involve actual cooking at the beginning of the week. That leaves me flexibility because if we have too many leftovers I can just skip the planned Thu-Fri meals and the ingredients will keep till next week (or the weekend). We're only in the first week and I'm already taking advantage of that because D ended up having lunch meetings every day this week and didn't need to take any lunches to work, so the three cooked meals will probably carry us.

As usual, I don't meal plan for weekends, because we often end up being out and about and if we're at home there's generally leftovers or something quick.

Can't decide if I'm going to get super bored and go off the rails. I actually don't think this is much more repetitive than I am normally, but there's something about seeing it all laid out that makes it feel more repetitive.

Recipes that I'm using this month: 

Sweet potato noodles with bolognese - not a real recipe, but I mention it in my spiralizer post and it's one of our favorites. I bought all the meat at once and divided it up and froze it into four portions. If I was truly getting serious, I could have made a huge batch of marinara to portion and freeze but I just bought four jars. Baby steps.
Coconut curried red lentils 
Black lentils with caramelized onions
Butternut squash coconut chili (new to me)
Chicken in cashew nut sauce - as usual, I'll make a double batch of the sauce and freeze half for next month
Sweet potato and black bean chili - I love this recipe and I've been making it about every three weeks to use up the odds and ends of sweet potato leftover from spiralizing.
Chicken enchilada soup - still a favorite around here.

This month is going to completely decimate my freezer supply of homemade chicken broth, so I'll probably make sure that a couple of our weekend meals consist of rotisserie chicken so I can restock. The homemade broth makes such a huge difference in soups.

I did most of our shopping last weekend and it was surprisingly not that much work. We're only two people, and there are a few things I'll have to pick up weekly (salad greens and produce) but all in all it was really manageable. It was also really cheap. I know the bill will go up because we'll still be purchasing things throughout the month, but it was crazy to see what a small portion of our grocery budget went towards the bulk of our food needs this month. The lentils help with that. We're not vegetarian (clearly) but I try to limit how much meat I eat and this is the general level that I'm comfortable with. This month we have red meat once per week (but we each get two servings because there are leftovers) and we have chicken every other week (again, we each get a couple servings). I've posted about how we approach meat here.

I'm mildly obsessed with meal planning and don't hesitate to switch up my system as our lives change, so you can find lots of other posts on it here if you search "meal plan." My original post on developing my meal planner is here and my 2014 update is here. This post is about coming up with your own system. Here is a post on three weeks of meals in detail.

Blogaversary

Today is my one year blogaversary. Wow.

{coconut cake posted here}

I started the blog with an open mind and no real agenda. It's turned out to be so much more than I ever thought it would be and that is largely due to all of you.

{birthday cupcakes - not posted, bizarrely enough}

Thank you. For being a community that I'm happy to be a part of, for inspiring me to take more photos, for helping me remember that all the little things in life are beautiful and important, for trying my recipes, for gushing over silly things like shoes and haircuts and providing support when life isn't quite as lovely as I would like.

{chocolate cake posted here}

I always kind of wished that I lived in a village - you know, the kind where everyone knows everyone else and supports each other (um, maybe an imaginary village). Now I feel like I'm part of a little village, a little community. And now I cannot get the image of each of us living in little thatched roof houses and wearing petticoats, so I think it is time to wrap up this rambling love note because I don't know where my mind will go next.

{anniversary cake posted here}

Ahem. As a little token of my appreciation, I'd love to send out a couple of small packages. If you leave a comment here, I'll pick a few names and you'll get a surprise in the mail. I can't tell you what it will be (because I don't know yet) but I promise it will be nice.

P.S. Oh my god, did you realize how many pictures I take of cake? I didn't, until I wrote this post. I wonder if I have a problem.

Me day

Today is my birthday, so I'll be very quiet and just enjoy the peace. And the cake. Deep reflections about your past and future and your big dreams and hopes for the coming year are always best accompanied by cake.

{cake + celebration candle kid}

This little lady surprised me on top of my coconut cake last year and I can't wait for her to come out again. She's a celebration candle kid from The Small Object. If I had children, they would each have one to bring out on their special day - wouldn't that be a wonderful tradition?

Of course, she lives in my sewing area the rest of the year, because she's too sweet to be hidden away in a drawer.

I'll be back tomorrow!

LACBC year 5

A couple weekends ago it was the fifth annual LA Craft Beer Crawl and it was pretty great. I write the same things about it every year, but it's that good. D and I threw a mild wrench in the works by getting mono a couple months ago (I know! I thought it was just for 13 year olds too!) and because I couldn't definitively figure out how long you're contagious we opted to not share drinks with anyone. We still managed to taste quite a bit by asking for half pours all afternoon and it worked out pretty well.

{preparing!}

{kinetic at casey's}

{the varnish}

{seven grand}

{las perlas}

My very favorite beer this year was Neddles from Allagash. It's a slightly sour wild ale brewed in rum barrels. The Bruery had a great showing with a coconut and pineapple riff on their Sour in the Rye (sounds horrifying, isn't AT ALL). Deschute's Fresh Squeezed IPA was hoppy and not too citrusy and BONUS it's readily available (we found it at a random liquor store last week). Los Angeles Ale Works, a newcomer, has a winner with their Lievre Saison, served both regular and on cask. The on cask version was amazing, if you can get your hands on it. I also really enjoyed the Enter the Future IPA from Highland Park Brewery, which operates out of the Hermosillo. We were really bummed that we didn't make it in time to taste their Lazy Susan, which was getting a lot of buzz.

There are so many great places popping up and I keep thinking that I should do a run down on the different LA breweries. Maybe a little series? Is that hoping for too much, given that I'm barely managing to post a couple times a month?

Recaps of all LACBC to date - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

P.S. - So many thanks for all the sweet sympathy re: my annoying dry eyes. I'm going to do a quick post very soon on what I'm doing (although I've seriously had two days this week where I couldn't see anything that was more than 3 inches away from my face, so I'm not claiming to be an expert) and pull together some of the excellent advice in the comments as well. Hate that so many of us are dealing with this!

Perfect Mexican rice

I have some sort of mental block against making rice. I won't try to explain it because it defies logic. But let's just say that after one particularly trying incident where I re-made jasmine rice THREE times while a guest waited for coconut curry, I accepted the truth. I am terrible at making rice.

We don't have a rice maker. I'd rather the space be taken up by a food processor and apparently rice and I are just not compatible, even with mechanical intervention (I grew up with a rice cooker - it did not help). I gave in and started buying frozen packets of cooked rice at Trader Joe's, and the problem was solved.

Every once in a while I attempt rice, with no expectation of success and no fear of failure. It's rice, after all. Not world domination. If it sucks, we'll eat something else.

So far, this recipe works every time.

{perfect mexican rice}

I realize rice, even spiced up with chili powder and garlic, is not the most thrilling topic, but I like to have a few staples down so I'm making note of this for future use. And I have been working on my regular rice technique, sporadically, and I'm making progress. I will not be defeated by a grain.

Perfect Mexican rice (original recipe here, makes 4 servings - scales up well)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder*
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
Salt, to taste (I like 1 teaspoon - this will depend on how salty your broth is as well)
Cilantro, chopped (optional - I like it sprinkled over the top)

:: Heat oil in a 2 or 3 qt pot over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is toasted and barely golden. Toss in the cumin and chili powder and cook for a minute.

:: Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in the tomato sauce and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. I find that sometimes the rice cooks more quickly, so I check for doneness each time I stir.

:: Remove from heat and let sit for at least 30 minutes, tossing with a fork every once in a while. This will allow some of the excess moisture to steam away. The rice will still not be nearly as dry as what you get in a restaurant, but I personally love it this way. If you want it dry, make it a day ahead, refrigerate overnight and then reheat the next day. It will be perfect.


* Know your chili powder! When chili powder is mentioned in a recipe, they usually mean the dark red variety that is smoky and less spicy than some of the brighter red types. You can use whatever you like in your recipes, but if you have a bright red powder start very light on the measurements and then work your way up. They are often much spicier. And cayenne is in a different class altogether!

Adult allowance - month seven (and printable budget cards!)

* I will eventually get some shorter, prettier posts up! I just have all these big long ones that I've been slowly working on and they're eating up my photo time.*

{tracking}

We started our new spending system in February, and I won't lie, it was rough. I think it was mostly that we had several social things early in the month and then ended up feeling pinched later on. I was grateful that we had a box of mac and cheese in the cupboard the last night of the month so that we could get through without cheating (obviously, we're in a privileged position in that our spending constraints are self imposed and if we had really needed something, we have the option of ignoring the cards or giving ourselves more money, but I'm trying to see this as a challenge).

March was easier, then April was hard, May was fine and June we went over and then July was TIGHT the whole way through and we had to impose austerity measures to get through the last two weeks. That seems to be the way it goes. If I have overage in a particular month I'll just keep the card and use it up before moving onto the next month. If I have a big purchase that I can't pay off in one month I'll write it down on the back of a card and then once I have enough overage accumulated I'll deduct it. That's technically cheating, but I live with it because it's the only way I can take advantage of sample sales.

The good news is that we are saving so much more money than we were last year. Essentially, just being mindful helps. I'll even resist the random things I used to pick up for myself while grocery shopping because I'd rather have that $1.99 to spend on something else. Although the coconut chips at Trader Joe's can be hard to resist and sometimes I decide they're worth it. Also, this is not nearly as depressing as it sounds on paper. Eating mac and cheese because you literally have no choice? Very stressful. Eating mac and cheese because you're both committed to winning at this budget game? Kind of fun. We try to treat it like a game all the time although I definitely have want-y moments where I wish we could just go out on a Friday night and ignore the fact that we've already overspent for the month.

Last year we were fooling ourselves into thinking we were saving because we'd move money into our savings every month. But it doesn't count if you later have to move it back to checking to pay for things. We were barely accumulating anything.

Because it isn't a hard and fast system, I'm sure that we sometimes forget to mark things down, or we accidentally mark them down twice. I made sure to leave a little wiggle room in our budget so that if everything went as planned we would not only be saving money but we'd also be building up a tiny buffer in our checking account. To figure out if this was actually happening, I periodically downloaded our daily account balances and graphed them. Yep, I love Excel. There are big ups (paychecks) and downs (RENT, credit card bill, withdrawals for personal allowances and savings accounts) but the overall trend is going in the right direction so I'm glad. Our highest peak gradually gets a little higher. Technically, as long as we stay on a plateau we're reaching our goals here, so it's exciting to see that we're actually doing a bit better than expected. (Our short term savings is meant to get depleted regularly - that's our fund for vacations or bigger indulgences.)

Several of you asked for the card template and I'm sorry I've been so slow to get it ready! I converted it to a write-able PDF, so that you can customize your amounts and categories. NOTE - You need to download this file for it to be a writeable PDF! It will not work in Google Drive - you'll just see blank spaces.

Just edit the set for January (enter your categories and amounts - you can tab through so you don't have to click on all those tiny boxes) and the remaining months of the year will update to be the same automatically. The first card is used for our household expenses and the second card is used for our personal allowances. I've only included one personal allowance card in the file. If you have two people, you'll need to print the file twice (sorry - didn't think of that until I was two hours deep creating the file and I couldn't bear to go back!).

I recommend printing the file on cardstock. The cards are sized to slip behind your credit cards in your wallet. I keep them there and then fold and tuck any receipts back there as well. You won't fall behind on your receipt entering if you're confronted with them every time you pull out your credit card. Or at the very least, they are hard to ignore.

D designed our cards and I based the writeable PDF on his design. Mine aren't as pretty because the font we used (Strangelove - it's a favorite around here) can't be embedded due to restrictions. But they should get the job done all the same. If you just straight up want to print our cards with no changes, here they are.

I hope these are helpful for some of you! Let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer in the comments.