An Engagement Party

Last weekend Jeremy and I had our engagement party in Houston. Of course I spent all day getting ready and of course I went overboard on the food. Not so much on the quantity of food, but the preparation effort. Which is fine, because I LOVE cooking, especially for other people.

The week before the party I started to think about what I wanted to prepare. Cakeballs, of course, and some tuxedo strawberries, oh and some caprese salad, and some mango salsa, oooh and meatballs, oh and...

Yea, you can see how it quickly escalated out of control. Thank goodness Jeremy is very understanding of my ambitiousness and he's such a wonderful help in the kitchen, especially the last few hours before the party when there's still like 4 dishes to make.

But I did finally settle on a menu, and now I will share it with you. (click on each photo to see a larger version)

1. Caprese Salad

I loved the presentation here, but when I do it again, I will use roma tomatoes instead of vine tomatoes. I think they'll fit better on the pieces of bread. I'd also like to make my own bread and mozzarella so I have full control over the sizes.

2. Chipotle Cornbread Cups with Southwest Chicken

These were a party favorite and went pretty quick. The chipotle in the cornbread was a really nice touch.

3. Mango Salsa Tortilla Cups

To make these I brushed a tortilla on both sides with olive oil. I then cut it in quarters and placed each one in a mini-muffin tin. Bake for 10+ minutes at 400 until they get crisp and golden. The mango salsa is a recipe that I got from a cooking class at whole foods. It includes mango, pineapple, cilantro, jalapeno, red onion, red pepper, tomato, and lime juice.

4. Cucumber Sandwiches

This was my first attempt at these and they turned out pretty well. The only thing I would do different next time is to add more cucumber and less other "stuff." They were a tad runny. Oh yea, and Jeremy says that he'd use wheat bread instead of white bread.

5. Swedish Meatballs

Okay, I failed to take a picture of these, but they're super easy, and if you cut the meatballs in half they make great one-bite snacks. Plus I got to serve them in my newish Le Creuset bake pan. Oooh fancy.

6. Roasted Eggplant Dip

No pictures of this one either, but it also was a new recipe for me. Jeremy actually handled this one and besides the massive amount of garlic it turned out quite tasty. Kinda like hummus but without the gritty texture. I really enjoy the roasted eggplant flavor, and now that we're growing eggplants in the garden (2 have started to grow!), we can make this dip again sometime in the near future. I will point out that this recipe uses the long skinny eggplants, Japanese eggplant, instead of the large fat ones. The large fat eggplants tend to be a little more bitter.

7. Tuxedo Strawberries

This was my first time making these guys, and I will admit that I was a little rushed at the end. But they turned out better than I though they would. I think with a little more time, the detail on the buttons/bowtie could be much cleaner. To make them you dip them first in white chocolate, let cool, then dip each side in milk (or dark) chocolate. Then, using a piping bag and small tip ("0" worked best for me), pipe on the buttons and bowtie.

8. Cakeballs

I wanted to something very special and elegant with these for this party. So I went down to Michael's crafts and picked up some white ribbon to make bows. While I was there, I found these little heart charms in the wedding isle. I formed each bow out of ribbon and attached the charms using hot glue. I suppose you could use pre-made bows, but I hadn't thought of that until I got home and was halfway through this process. I also affixed the bows to the sticks before sticking them in the cakeball. You don't want any chance of getting hot glue in your chocolate or cake, so all this prep was done the night before. The cakeball was made from banana cake and honey/cinnamon icing and was then dipped in white chocolate. I used just a touch of vegetable shortening to thin down the white chocolate, and then sprinkled each one with cake glitter (click to enlarge second picture). While you can't see it much in the picture, it gave it a nice elegant feel. I'm so happy with the way these turned out, and people really loved them. I even made them wait until then of the night to eat them. Yea, I'm mean.

Finally here are two pictures of the full spread. And the rest you can check out HERE if you so desire.

Honey... A Natural Aphrodisiac

"From the Kama Sutra to the Perfumed Garden to the Bible, honey has been connected with love, sex, and sensuality extraordinaire since the beginning of time. In the fifth century B.C. Hippocrates prescribed it for sexual vigor, and tradition in India calls for a bridegroom to receive honey on his wedding day. Newlyweds typically go on a honeymoon, a practice that stems from an ancient tradition of couples going into seclusion and drinking a honey concoction until the first new moon of their marriage. Psychologically, honey encompasses sensuality. The very word, honey, conjures up golden images of the dripping, sticky, viscous substance, of honeybees, honeysuckle, and all things sweet." - The New Intercourses

I know what you're thinking, this blog just got a lot more interesting. Well maybe. The quote above comes from a cookbook that I received last year for Christmas from Jeremy. As far as cookbooks go, it's about 3 stars, missing one of my most important criteria for a cookbook... pictures. However, as a book, it's quite interesting. And it does have a few good recipes, including the one I'm about to tell you about... Honey-Almond Delight.

This is my second time making this snack, and it was a huge hit at work last time I made it. In fact, I was sure that I already blogged about this, but I couldn't find the post, so here's hoping this isn't a repeat. Below you'll find the recipe for this tasty snack. It also goes great with some ice cream.

HONEY ALMOND DELIGHT

The Prep:
Line a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.
Make room in your fridge for said pan.

Set out the following ingredients:
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 lb), chilled, cut into small chunks
1 large egg
3/4 tsp almond extract

In a food processor combine the flour, sugar, and salt. (If you don't have a food processor you can still do this in a bowl with a pastry cutter, or, if your food processor is small like mine, do this in two batches then combine together). Next add the butter and pulse until the mixture is combine and resembles coarse meal.


Whisk the egg and almond extract together in a small bowl, then add to the food processor. Pulse until the dough starts to come together.

Next you'll spread the dough mixture onto the lined pan. The best way I found to do this, and ensure an even layer, is to rip it into little pieces and place it on the tray.


Then use your hands to pat down the dough flat.


Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until you are ready to use.

Once ready, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the dough from the fridge and, using a fork, prick the dough. This will help prevent air bubbles from forming, so don't be afraid to make too many holes.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until it turns a light golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 lb)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound sliced almonds (I use the sliced blanched almonds from the bulk foods section at the grocery store)

In a medium sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, sugar, honey, and butter over medium heat.


Once the butter is fully disolved, turn up the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes without stirring. You are making a carmel sauce.


Remove the mixture from the heat and add the heavy cream and the almonds. At this point the mixture will become very thick.


Spread the topping over the crust with a spatula. Then bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until bubbly and a nice golden color.


Let the dessert cool, then cut into triangles. Be sure to use a sharp knife when doing this and to press the knife down instead of dragging it. Otherwise you'll pull the almond top right off the shortbread.
You can store these in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you can wait that long.

(sorry, I just couldn't get a nice picture of this final piece. The lighting was all wrong)

Jeremy & I are ENGAGED!

On Saturday July 31, 2010 around 4:30pm Jeremy and I got engaged at Flat Creek Estate. It was amazing and no matter how much you think you know it's coming, that moment just takes your breath away.

So I could tell you the whole story now, but then what reason would you have for visiting our wedding page? (which isn't up yet btw) So I'm not going to tell you all the details, but just know it was perfect and amazing and wonderful. And yes, he did get down on one knee, but at that point it's all a blur. I think I remember him saying "will you marry me?" or maybe it was "will you be my wife?" I was too excited to listen.

So after the hugging and kissing and crying, we took some photos.

These three were taken and sent to our parents via email when we got back to the house. Note at this point we had not told them anything. And in the email all I said was "here are some more photos from Flat Creek."




So we sent off the photos and waited for their call... and waited... and waited. Okay this was going to take a while. So we got ready for dinner and headed to Carmelo's. I've always wanted to go there and Jeremy remembered!

On the way over I called my parents to tell my mom that I sent her a card via email and she should look at it with dad (total lie), and we texted his mom saying there were some pictures in her email to look at. At this point I was so sure that my dad would pick out the ring right away and my mom would totally miss it. Boy was I wrong.

Turns out we had to tell both our parents to "look harder" at the pictures and ask them if they "noticed anything special" about them. :)

Needless to say, they were both very excited. As are we!

No we don't have a date yet or a place, but here is a picture of the wonderfully beautiful ring that Jeremy got me. It's soooooo gorgeous and sparkly!

Lost Creek Estate

A few weeks ago our friend, Merrick, took some awesome pictures of Jeremy and I at Flat Creek Winery. They all turned out so well, it's just too hard to pick out my favorites. But here are a few that I like and the rest you can check out on flickr HERE or on a pretty black background on Merrick's page HERE (if it's still active months from now when you may be reading this).

Running

Most of you know that I've started running. First, lets just clear something up. No, I am not training for a triathlon; not now, not ever. Well "ever" is a very strong word, but lets just say at no point in the foreseeable future. I can assure you that at no point have I ever gotten off my bike and thought to myself "I think I'd like to go for a run now." Or, even moreso, "I really wish I had gone swimming before doing this." In fact, it's usually the opposite. I usually get off my bike and think to myself "now would be a great time to go down to Barton Springs and just float in the water." Again, not swimming, floating. So in summary, no, I am not doing a triathlon.

I am, however, training for a race called the Army 10 Miler. It's a 10 mile race (go figure) that runs through the monuments in Washington DC. I went last year to support Jeremy and thought "why not, I can do this." That was 9 months ago. Now that it's only 3 months away, I'm starting to reconsider why I decided to do this. However, I have started to make progress.

Last weekend I raced in the Lunar Rendezvous in Clear Lake, TX. My 5k time was my best yet, at 3.14 miles in 30:14, for a 9:44 average. I'm quite happy with that, and even happier that I managed to avoid pretty much all side-stickers that I normally experience around mile 2.

Since I was feeling so great coming off that run, I decided to start increasing my mileage. At this point I had already done 3 "5 mile" runs (really more like 4.8 miles) around town lake, but I also knew that if I want to make it 10 miles in October I need to step it up further. So, yesterday, I decided to run 6 miles. Yea, I don't know what I was thinking...

I woke up and was already feeling sore from the boot camp workout the day before. I knew it was going to be rough. After 15 minutes or so of stretching (so important), I put on my ipod and I was off. My usual goal when doing more than 3.1 miles is to run the 5k as fast as I can (without dying) and then continue on taking fast walking breaks when necessary. I completed my 5k part in something around 31, and at this point knew the next 3 miles were gonna be brutal. I was tired, sore, and ready to stop. In fact, at one point, I'm sure my legs had an argument with my brain about what exactly was going on. But I stuck with it. Walking at times (especially between mile 4 and 5), and running when I could. Somewhere around mile 5.5 I decided that it doesn't make sense to run just 6 miles, when running 6.2 miles would put me at the 10k mark. And lets just admit it, saying you ran a 10k sounds much more impressive than saying you ran 6 miles.

So after mile 6 I kept going. At this point pleading with my legs and explaining to my body that we only had .2 miles to go. Unfortunately, that was a lie. See, at the 10k point, I was still .2 miles from the car. So what choice did I have. In a half walk/half jog at this point, I made my way back to the car for a total of 6.4 miles in 1:14:00 (approximately) or 74 minutes. That's about 11:50 average, which gives you an indication just how slow those last few miles were.

Never mind the time though, this was BY FAR my longest run ever. I can't say it felt great, because really, it didn't. But I was happy with myself for having gone so far. My legs were in pain for the rest of the day and I'm pretty sure I consumed all food in sight. It's amazing how hungry you get after a good hard workout. But now I'm sure that I can at least make it to the 5 mile point during the Army 10 Miler in the required 75 minutes and hopefully finish the race in about 2 hours. That would be 10 miles at a 12 minute average pace. We'll see if I can make it. At this point, I think it's just time to keep training.

Cupcakes are Out... Cakeballs are In.

Disclaimer: I love taking photos. I really do. And thus I am aware how crappy these photos are, and how with just a little more work and aranging I could make them better... and maybe not using my iPhone camera. But really, after doing this much baking, I'm just too tired to care. I'll work on this in the future. I promise.



Recently I have noticed a shift in trendy desserts.

For a while it was the cupcake. Everywhere you looked new cupcake stands and shops were popping up. Gourmet cupcakes, they called them. And they charged you $2.50 - $4.00 for each of them.

And while cupcakes are still my favorite, there has been a noticeable trend shift from the cupcake to the cake ball. The dessert blogosphere has exploded with discussion about these little things. And if you thought $2.75 was a bit much for a cupcake (Hey Cupcake - Austin, TX), people are charging $2 a piece for these little gems (Holy Cacao - Austin, TX) and I can tell you that they are quite smaller than a cupcake.

So at $2 a piece, the first thing I thought was "you are out of your mind," followed by "When can I try making these things." For those of you that know me well, you know that the answer to that second thought was of course, "as soon as possible."

Well that was about a week ago. And here we are 7 days and about 150 cake balls later.

Trial Numero Uno - Red Velvet


Before I tell you the secrets that I learned during my first cake ball experiment, I will first give you the quick insight on how to make a cake ball.

First, bake a cake. No really, it's that simple. Grab your favorite cake recipe or box cake and whip it up. Since you'll be crumbling it up, there's no need to make sure it comes out of the pan cleanly, therefore don't bother taking the time to flour the pan. Once baked let it FULLY cool. Which brings us to cake ball secret #1:

Let the cake cool fully before crumbling it up. You'll have a much more difficult time if it's warm because your icing will start to melt and you'll wind up with a gooey mess. If this happens, don't panic. Just freeze your "slop" in the ice box for a while until it's firm enough to handle and mold into balls. People will still love them.

Second. While your cake is cooling, prepare your frosting. If you want you can take the lazy way out and buy a can of frosting from the store. Or, you can make your favorite that goes well with whatever cake you are making. Since I was doing a red velvet cake, I went with a cream cheese frosting.


Third. Once your cake is cooled and your frosting ready, crumble up your cake into a large bowl. Next thoroughly mix in the icing. Now for cake ball secret #2:

Start with just a little icing and continue to add more until you reach the desired sweetness and/or texture that you want. Most likely if you're making your own icing you'll have way more icing than you need for these little guys. I think about 1/2 an icing recipe seemed to work out well. If you put a lot of icing into your mix it will become too soupy to form into balls. If this is the case, see secret #1 above.


Once your icing and cake are mixed to your desired level, roll the mixture into 1.5"-2" balls. If you desire more chocolate-to-cake ratio, make the balls smaller. Freeze for a while. Say 30 minutes - 1 hour. The harder they are, the easier they will be to work with when you are dipping them into the chocolate. If they are super soft, they'll just fall apart.

When your balls are properly frozen (um... that doesn't sound right), prepare your chocolate. Again, this part is up to you. If you'd like a thick chocolate coating, then go with a chocolate ganache. You'll get a thick coat and a nice sheen. For the red velvet cake balls, I used white chocolate for some and then (when that ran out, oops) I switched to dark chocolate. Cake ball secret #3:

#3 - Because I didn't want a thick chocolate coating, I mixed a bit of butter with my dark (70% cacao) chocolate to thin it down.

When dipping your cake balls into the chocolate, work with only a few at a time and leave the rest in the freezer. I prefer to have them on a stick, cause it just makes life all around easier. Easier to dunk, easier to eat. I found that you can use candy sticks from the local craft store (nicer look) or you can use kids craft popsicle sticks (if you're just making them for your co-workers and you don't want to make a trip to the local craft shop).


To coat the cake balls, insert the stick into the ball almost to the bottom. One blogger suggests dipping a portion of the stick into the melted chocolate first, then into the ball, to help it adhear to the stick better. I haven't tried this, but it seems like a good idea. Then using a tall narrow glass for your chocolate (such as a coffee mug), make sure you dip the ball all the way down, until the chocolate comes up around the stick. This will help the stick and ball stay together once the chocolate is dried. Now, if you choose, go crazy with toppings; sprinkles, ground nuts, cocoa powder, cinnamon, whatever.

Once done, I like to place them in the fridge, but you could also leave them on the counter for a day or two before using. If you do put them in the fridge, you'll probably see the chocolate start to sweat when it comes out into the warm air. I really don't have a problem with this, and since my house is always warm in the summer (thanks TX), I keep them in the fridge just so the chocolate solidifies. I've heard placing them in a plastic bag with a paper towel can help the sweating issue, though I'm not sure.



So there you have it, cake balls. Once I was done with my red velvet batch, I of course took them into work. Really, what else was I to do with 50 cake balls? Well, people went crazy! They were insane for these things. Maybe it was the massive amounts of sugar, or maybe the fact that they felt like a kid again, but either way, they loved them. So this past weekend I went ahead and tried out the other two recipes that I was thinking of.

I made banana cake balls with a honey/cinnamon frosting and dark chocolate (some then dipped in crushed walnuts) and spice cake balls with cinnamon frosting and dark chocolate (some dipped in a dark chocolate infused with cayenne pepper, just for that extra little kick).


UPDATE: people seem to really like the hot ones infused with cayenne pepper. One guy said "Wow. The hot ones are fantastic." I love those emails :)

Overall I think these little gems are great for parties and walk around functions, where eating cake or even cupcakes is just too messy. But I have to say, I'm still a cake / cupcake girl, I just think they taste a little better when the cake and the frosting aren't mixed.

A new blog

I spent the 4th of July with Jeremy's family (all 60 of them) in Ohio. It was quite the party and I was able to grab some great shots of some of the kiddos at night with the fireworks. And by kiddos I mean some of Jeremy's younger cousins, as well as the older "boys" lighting off all the fireworks. Some of the pictures turned out great, considering I was just using my hand-held Canon SD880.

Which got me thinking. My friend, Merrick, is a great photographer. He also does a great job of displaying his photos on his website. And what better way to look at night snapshots than on a website with a black background and no text cluttering the screen (ie - not flickr.com).

So with the limited resources that I currently have (time & energy), I used blogger to put together another site to just display some of the photos that I like best. It's not exactly perfect yet, but in the future I'll work at it a bit more. For now, check out some of the pictures from the July 4th Picnic.

HERE for all the pictures (on Flickr)

and

HERE for the select night shots on my new photoblog.