Delicious Macarons Class

 

I have long been a fan of macarons (not macaroons), but was too afraid to try making them at home, due to their notoriously finicky nature. Luckily for me, it turns out that my local Sur la Table store offers classes on how to make these delectable dainties. Last weekend my mom and I took the Delicious Macarons class, taught by Michelle Mrkota. We had a blast, and came home with three different kinds of macarons: Chocolate with Pastry Cream and Crème Brûlée bits, Pumpkin with Maple Buttercream, and Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing.

 

 

I seldom take a cooking class, but was so glad I took this one! The instructor’s obvious experience (two and half years of making macarons daily!) and easy-to-understand tips made every minute of the class valuable. Plus, it was fun to learn alongside my mom, who taught me pretty much everything I know about baking. At the end of the class, we walked away feeling confident about our ability to make macarons at home. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Sweet Butternut Squash Soup

One of the biggest drawbacks of having an overdeveloped sweet tooth is that I don’t really like vegetables at all. However, I know that eating plenty of vegetables is an important part of healthy living, so I am always on the lookout for easy, yummy, vegetable-based recipes. This past weekend, I was thumbing through my copy of Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special and decided to try Butternut Squash Soup with Frizzled Sage. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so I made a few tweaks to the recipe. Even with my modifications, it’s not that quick, but it sure is easy and very sweet! I’ll be eating the leftovers for lunch all this week, I liked it so much. Here’s the modified recipe I’ll use next time I make this soup.

 

Sweet Butternut Squash Soup

¼ cup olive oil

3 pounds of precut butternut squash (I bought mine at Trader Joe’s)

6 garlic cloves

2 large white onions, peeled and quartered

¼ cup water

3 cups apple juice (mmm…sweet, sweet apple juice)

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

 

Preheat the oven to 400^o. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush the foil with some of the olive oil. Add the butternut squash, onion and garlic and brush with remaining olive oil. Pour water into the bottom of the backing sheet, cover with more foil, and bake 45-50 minutes until veggies are soft. Transfer veggies (without drippings) to a large bowl. Add apple juice, thyme, nutmeg and salt, and then use a stick blender to puree the soup until it is as smooth as it is sweet. Serve as is, or reheat on the stove as needed. Makes 6 servings.

Linking up with Tuesday at the Table.

Mini Cherry Pies

When I learned that January 23 is National Pie Day, I knew I had to celebrate it somehow. Since I’ve been in a Valentine’s Day mood lately, heart-shaped personal pies seemed just the thing. I called up my mom and asked her over for a Sunday afternoon session of Mini Cherry Pie making so that I could make enough to share at work. (Yes, that meant I took the pies to work two days early, but no way was I going to make pies by myself on a Tuesday evening with a toddler underfoot!)

We started with store-bought pie crust and filling, and used a Pocket Pie Mold to assemble the pies. While time-intensive, they turned out scrumptious, and were a big hit at the office. Wrapping them in wax paper bags and twine made transporting them to work simple. Many thanks to my mom for all her help!

By the way, March 14 is National Pi Day. Another good day for pie, perhaps?

Linking up with Tuesday at the Table, of course.

Minnesota State Fair: A Junk Foodie’s Paradise

This summer, I had the pleasure of visiting the Minnesota State Fair. I’ve been to fairs before, but they did little to prepare me for the awesomeness that is the Minnesota State Fair. Within a four hour time span, three of my favorite people and I wandered the grounds, stuffing ourselves with as many unusual, unhealthy delicacies as our stomachs could handle. We sampled sweet potato tots, corn fritters, soft pretzels, cheese curds, a bucket of chocolate chip cookies, old fashioned root beer, corn dogs made with wheat, and best of all, red velvet funnel cake. In addition to gawking at the plethora of culinary delights available, we also managed to see baby ducks, new lambs, horses, cows and quilts. Sadly, we weren’t able to spend much time with the quilts. Next time. We’ll definitely be back, as those sweet potato tots are calling my name.

 

Linking up with Tuesday at the Table at A Quilter’s Table.
 

Lavender Cupcake à la Mode

Since I was in the neighborhood recently, I stopped by the Ballard Cupcake Royale to try their new line of ice cream. My plan was to pick a flavor that would pair well with Strawberry 66, their cupcake of the month for August. That plan was dashed when I saw the Blueberry Lavender ice cream flavor listed and my favorite Lavender cupcakes in the case. The combo did not disappoint. The cupcake was as moist and scrumptious as I remembered. The generous baby scoop of Blueberry Lavender ice cream balanced blueberry, lavender and sweetness beautifully. If the shop had been air conditioned, it would have been the perfect pause in a hot summer afternoon. Air conditioning aside, I will definitely be back to try more of Cupcake Royale’s ice cream offerings.

Linking up with Tuesday at the {herbal} Table.

Yogurtland: Tastes Like Summer

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of frozen yogurt. My sweet husband and I stop by our local Menchie’s on the flimsiest of pretexts. As much as I love Menchie’s, I am always on the lookout for new (to me) yogurt places to try. Recently, a friend and I stopped by Yogurtland in Wallingford, and I must say I was not disappointed. Where our local Menchie’s is cozy and somewhat inconveniently laid out, Yogurtland is spacious and flows well. At Menchie’s, I usually get a variation of the same thing, but Yogurtland boasted such a plethora of intriguing flavors that I branched out and tried their seasonal Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet and topped it off with fresh fruit and Fruity Pebbles. 

It tasted like summer. Not my adult summers, when I get cranky in the heat and make excuses to stay in the shade, but the summers of my childhood, when I spent entire days reading, swam until I was all wrinkles, and roasted marshmallows over campfires. Isn’t it amazing when a bite of something can transport you to another time and place?

Linking up with Tuesday at the Table.

 

Tuesday at the {picnic} Table: Personal Picnic Purse

Do you like picnics? How about purses? Either way, head on over to A Quilter’s Table and check out my guest post for this week’s Tuesday at the {picnic} Table.

 

 

Brunch at Café Flora

Even though I have lived in the Greater Seattle Area for most of my life, there are still areas of the Emerald City that I am completely unfamiliar with. This past weekend, I ventured into one such area to meet friends for brunch. I got lost on the way there, but in the end it was more than worth it. 

Once I arrived at Café Flora, I ordered a cup of Earl La Crème tea to calm my nerves. I don’t usually order tea when dining out, but I was glad I did in this case. Instead of the usual tea bag in hot water set-up, our server brought a pot of hot water, loose leaf tea in a brewing basket, a receptacle for the brewing basket and a sand timer to time the tea. A simple presentation, but one that made my meal just a little bit more special.

For brunch, I ordered the beignets, described on the menu as “Traditional New Orleans deep fried yeast pastries, powdered sugar, seasonal anglaise and coulis.” What a treat! They were a bit denser and more uniformly shaped than other beignets I have had, but they were warm and filling and tasty. I especially enjoyed the sauce that came with them. I would definitely eat here again. Café Flora has a reputation for being kid-friendly, so maybe next time I’ll bring my sweet girl.

Linking up with Tuesday at the {picnic} Table.

Baprons, Baby!

Kids sure are messy. It never ceases to amaze me how messy my sweet girl can be when she eats. She can decimate a bib in no time flat, so when I saw the baprons (baby aprons) that Jess at Craftiness is not Optional had made, I knew I had to make some myself. There was no flannel in my stash, so I made a little quilt sandwich and quilted them by machine. If only I had started sooner! The pattern that Jess so generously shared is not quite big enough for my growing girl. These baprons just barely fit right now, but she will most likely outgrow them before she wears them out. I plan to enlarge the pattern, though, because baprons are just too dang cute! (Also, she can’t rip them off like she can rip off traditional bibs.) I love the two I made out of stashed fabrics and binding scraps, even though they aren’t my best work. Baprons are the perfect size to experiment with different quilting techniques and I had fun trying out free motion quilting for the first time. I need to make plenty more baprons before I can move on to free motion quilting on actual quilts. In the mean time, I enjoy gazing across our dining room table at my sweet daughter enjoying her meal while wearing something I made. Eventually I intend to sew actual clothes for her, but in the meantime, I will enjoy the baprons.

Linking up with Tuesday at the {summer} Table and Fabric Tuesday.