Strawberry Ice Cream

This weekend was the first weekend for strawberries at the farmers market! I picked up a quart so I could make some strawberry ice cream. I wanted to try a recipe I found from The New Vegetarian Epicure. I ran out to pick up all the ingredients and of course forgot to get buttermilk which the recipe called for, but because it isn't a typical ice cream ingredient I totally forgot and it's rather hard to find at my neighborhood bodega and it was raining heavily outside so I had to improvise! I had some strawberry kefir in my fridge so I cut the sugar in the recipe and added the kefir instead which I "watered" down a bit with milk and cream. Wow! It was amazing. I don't know if the kefir made a difference at all since this was the first time trying the recipe, but the ice cream was fantastic! Mike liked it so much he ate it for breakfast this morning.

Cookbooking

In preparation for our first CSA delivery next week, I've started buying cook books..lots of cook books! Since Mike and I have become "part-time" vegetarians (for lack of a better term!) it has opened up a whole new world of cooking to us!

I'm a sucker for beautiful books. I can't help myself! So how could I say no to a cover as fabulous as this one



As stated on the back cover, Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes is "a contemporary version of field-to-table cooking." There are over 150 recipes in this book, created by Jeanne Kelley, a contributor for Bon Apetit Magazine for over 20 years. The photography is amazing, it makes you want to get into the kitchen and start cooking right away! I can't wait to try some of the recipes which include things like Black Beans with Orange and Chipotle and Oven Roasted Frites with Herbes de Provence...yum!

Baking and famous people

I was hoping for a shop update today but unfortunately I wasn't able to get everything done this weekend, Saturday was so beautiful that Mike and I spent most of the day outside. We were given free tickets to Taste of Tribeca and while we were there we met Spike from Top Chef!! Afterwards we were walking to meet some friends in the West Village and we spotted Giselle! The paparazzi were following her like crazy!





I did quite a bit of baking this weekend as well. Mike and I have had this amazing bread book for a few months now and the only thing we have managed to make from it is pizza dough. Since I have scared myself silly by watching all these documentaries about food I am trying to avoid eating processed foods so I wanted to make some sandwich bread. I referred to the book and found a recipe for Buttermilk Bread and since I had some buttermilk left over from the scones I made last weekend I decided to give it a try. Wow! It was delicious, the recipe made two loaves so I made one into a cinnamon raisin bread (another recipe in the book) which Mike and I ate for breakfast and the other one I am going to use for sandwiches this week. If you like bread, you have to get this book. It is incredible! The next recipe we are going to try from the book is soft pretzels...yum! I also made some amazing buttermilk cookies which I found the recipe for at Orangette's blog. The recipe called for lemon zest but we only had a lime on hand so I used that. It was a tiny lime and didn't give it much flavor but the green flecks in the cookies looked pretty! The cookies really didn't even need the zest, they were so good without that added flavor. Mike and I devoured them, I'm embarrassed to say I made them not even 24 hours ago and they are all gone!!! I am now going to have to walk on the treadmill for 6 miles to burn off all the carbs I consumed this weekend!!

Hoping for a shop update by the end of this week so stay tuned!

Orange Breakfast Biscuit Recipe

I couldn't find the recipe on Martha Stewart's site so here it is. Enjoy!!

Orange Breakfast Biscuits

Makes 1 dozen

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp finely grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus for dusting
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
8 tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Put 1/3 cup sugar and the zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until combined, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and remaining tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stir with a wooden spoon just until a sticky dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat dough together, and press into an 8 x 11 x 1 inch rectangle. Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar mixture on top. Using a bench scraper or spatula to lift dough, fold rectangle into thirds (as you would a letter).

Give dough a quarter turn. Roll out into an 8 x 11 x 1 inch rectangle. Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar mixture on top. Fold into thirds. Transfer dough onto a lightly floured parchment paper lined baking sheet. Tightly cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Return dough to lightly floured work surface. Roll out again, into an 8 x 11 x 1 inch rectangle. Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar mixture on top. Fold into thirds. Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture on top.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit or cookie cutter, cut rounds from dough (still folded); transfer to a baking sheet. Tightly cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Bake until biscuits are just browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer biscuits to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Pita and pillows

Mike made some yummy pita bread this weekend. It was delicious and fairly easy to make. He got the recipe here. He switched a portion of the all purpose flour for whole wheat. Much better than the store bought stuff! While he made pita I made some pillows for the couch. I picked up the fabric last weekend when Melissa was here. It's from Amy Butler's new line, Midwest Modern. I worked on them for a few hours and then got really frustrated because I had to re-do one and I could not get the slip stitch right. I had three of my sewing books laid out, all of which had slightly different instructions for how to do a slip stitch and none of them made any sense! I went back to it last night and finished them, I think I finally got the hang of how to properly sew a slip stitch and they turned out really well. It was dark when I finished so I wasn't able to get a photo but here are some pics of the fabric. My next project is pot holders and an oven mitt.

Let the Moving Commence...

We got the keys to the new place last night, we started moving immediately!! We got the entire kitchen moved. With every pot and pan we put into it's place we silently thanked the landlord gods for allowing us to move because the marathon running babies were horrible last night!!! They were screaming and running and falling on the floor and screaming some more. I am so grateful to not have to listen to that anymore! The other great thing about this new place is that it is significantly bigger than our old place. The first and only time we saw the apartment was when the people moving out of it were gracious enough to let us look at it even though it was filled with moving boxes so we weren't really able to get a feel for how big (or small) it really was. Wow!! I mean it's no mansion and it's probably not even big for Manhattan standards but for us, who have been living (smooshed) in 300 square feet it feels like we just moved in to Heff's mansion!

We hope to get the rest of the apartment moved tonight because we have the cable guy coming tomorrow morning and then we have a screenprinting class (my Xmas gift to Mike) at the Etsy Labs tomorrow from 1-6. I am so excited and I can't wait to see the labs!

We are having people over for the Super Bowl so I have been scowering the internet looking for recipes. If you haven't ever visited the blog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, I insist you check it out immediately!! She has some awesome Super Bowl recipes posted. I will warn you though, if you are health conscious or wish to keep your cholestrol levels in check, don't even bother! Her bacon wrapped jalapeno things look delicious! Happy Friday everyone!