OKMH Reveal: June 2013

It's my new favorite holiday: OKMH Box Reveal!

The Women

The huge hearts and open kitchens of these seven women come together to give gifts of wonder and delight every other month. And this month's theme is oh-so-summer appropriate: Picnics!

This month I received from Mads and I am (as always) so thrilled and giddy with the contents.
Here's the haul:

Contents include the bare essentials (except for the cheese) that you would need for basically the best picnic ever: Wine. Oh, and plates, napkins, tablecloth, and some food and witty tea towels. But let's focus on the essentials: WINE. Travel size wine. If there's two things I love, it's wine. Let me start over... If there's two things I love, it's wine and travel-sized things.

Classy wine, classy meat, and classy crackers

There's not a lot of sun in Seattle, so planning for picnics is difficult when you also need a blue tarp, rain coat, and the flexibility to eat soggy sandwiches when your sunny picnic falls on one of the 300 rainy days we get in a year. But with just a few essentials, I can basically keep an "Emergency Picnic" kit in my car, set for those rare sunny days (let alone on a weekend!).

Now, as I write this, we are mid-way through a sunny, warm streak and Seattle is actually seeing some summer weather that so-often eludes us. So you might think that I'm exaggerating when I say that picnics (or any other activity) often get rained out here. That's fine. I don't mind when you sit there being wrong in your wrongness. But since we can't relate and are now fighting, I'm going to share my wine with someone else. Like... my other hand.

*UPDATE: Mads also included some out-of-this-world chocolate chip cookies. They're not pictured because I had to eat them immediately.

Don't mind me... I'm just delusional and belligerent from a weekend of more sun than I've had the rest of the year and my skin is now a sassy shade of pink (a side effect of impromptu picnics... pack sunscreen, too!)
And without further ado... check out what the other gals sent/received for picnic month!
I sent to Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic.
Kirsten sent to Jeanne at Inside NanaBread's Head.
Jeanne sent to Megan at Wanna Be a Country Cleaver.
Megan sent to Allison at Decadent Philistines Save the World.
Allison sent to Kat at Tenaciously Yours.
Kat sent to Mads at La Petite Pancake.


What are your picnic essentials?

Sweet Week: Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pudding Cookies

As if this cookie title weren't long enough... right?

Anyway - I really get into Valentine's Day. I hate that I like it. But I do. Always have. I love the idea of it. And people may say that you don't need a special day created by the card companies to tell someone that you love them. But even though we shouldn't need a special day to phone our mom or take her out to brunch, we have Mother's Day. And so we have Valentine's Day. Love it or hate it, it persists. Even the people that abhor the day acknowledge that it exists by hating it. And so I love it.

And as much as I love Valentine's Day and the mush and the chocolate and the flowers, I love peanut butter and chocolate. Like macaroni and cheese. Like Rose and The Doctor. Like baseball and Cracker Jack. They just go together. Reese's is just about my favorite thing, ever. And so when I saw this cookie recipe on Pinterest, I had to try it. The hubs still complained that these weren't Snickerdoodles (coming soon, dear), but he ate these quicker than anything. I had to make a second batch in order to get enough to actually dip in chocolate. And then I had to hide half the batch in order to have enough to take pictures.

These are a great treat to make for your favorite sweetheart this Valentine's Day. And if you want to find any other delicious treats to win over your LUVAH, then check out the other shexay posts all this week for Sweet Week!

Sunday:
Red Velvet Vanilla Marble Cupcakes by Kristen at Comfortably Domestic
Retro Raspberry Divinity by Jeanne at Inside NanaBread's Head

Monday:
Mini Meringue Strawberry Pie by Katie at The Hill Country Cook

Tuesday:
Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti by Madeline at Munching in the Mitten
Samoa Crack Dip by Carrie at Bakeaholic Mama

Wednesday:
Avocado Peppermint Chocolate Mousse by Lauren at Climbing Grier Mountain
Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark by Megan at Wanna be a Country Cleaver

Thursday:
White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting by Mads at La Petite Pancake
S'more on a Stick by Kat at Tenaciously Yours

Friday:
Lemon Marshmellows by Allison at Decadent Philistines Save the World
Mini Chocolate Mouse Pies by Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic

Saturday:
Berry Smoother Ice Cream Pie by Anne at From My Sweet Heart

Happy Valentine's Day, Lovers!

 
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pudding Cookies
Recipe from Something Swanky
I got just over 4 dozen cookies 

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup flour
1 3.4 oz package instant cheesecake pudding mix
2-3 cups melting chocolates (I used Wilton in light cocoa, red, and pink)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together the peanut butter, shortening, and both sugars until creamy and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition.
3. Add the vanilla and baking soda and mix briefly. 
4. Add the flour and pudding mix and mix well.
5. Scoop in rounded tablespoons on a parchment sheet or silicon baking sheet. Use a fork to create a criss-cross pattern onto the dough.
6. Bake cookies for 8 - 12 minutes, or until the edges are just barely starting to brown. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Repeat until all dough is cooked.
7. Melt chocolate according to package instructions. Dip cookies or drizzle chocolate on top. Allow the chocolate to set on wax paper.
8. Give to your sweetie.

Winter Cleaning

For some reason, this time of year makes me feel a little stuffy. I guess it's not really "some reason" - it's cold and rainy out, it's starting to get stuffy inside, and cleaning up from the holidays makes me want to keep on cleaning. We've already made 2 trips to the Salvation Army, and cleaned out a lot of other garbage (school papers for recycling, mostly). To top off feeling stuffy, I have been actually stuffy - a cold I've been fighting off and on since my post-Thanksgiving work trip (a challenge from the Crohn's medications, unfortunately). I think I'm finally on the up swing. I stayed on the couch for most of Saturday (didn't even get out of my pajamas - serious vegetable) and by Sunday I was ready for action. I ran (a little) and did a serious bit of laundry and organizing.

You may notice that no where in there did I mention cooking. I haven't been doing much of it. As I hit the worst part of my cold, the hubster has been doing a great job of helping me out by getting my soup (3 dinners in a row) and even cooked "real" dinner tonight (sometimes Kraft mac 'n cheese and Oscar Mayor hot dogs are okay).

Top the cold off with some of the winter blues and stuffiness, I feel almost suffocated by all the "stuff" around me. Which is why my energy has been more focused on cleaning than cooking. Not apologizing, just constantly seeking balance, and finding a place in my life to blog more.

I don't really do resolutions, per se, but I do have goals. It's not that I have anything against resolutions on principal, but I don't just set them at this time of year. I have little goals that start at my birthday, Jewish new year, and American new year. But writing them down is helpful.

1. Run at least 500 miles. Training off of a healing ankle, I think this is a realistic goal.
2. Find a place for blogging in my life. It's already in my heart, but I need to action it more. Twitter is not a blog.

2013 is looking to be a busy year, both professionally and personally, and (although cliche to say) I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully, maybe even busy for the blog.

I'll leave you with a photo from my European adventure this past fall. It's me, with my dad's Traveling Gnome. On my head. Because... I'm... classy like that?

Hola.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and A Seasonal Rant

 I am fully aware that what I'm about to say will be wildly unpopular. That's okay. I've come to terms with it, but I just think it needs to be said! And it's far enough into the holidays and out of fall that I feel the hype has died down enough to avoid getting egged for the following words:

I. Hate. Like, seriously hate. Pumpkin spice lattes.

And here's the biggest reason: I think it's inappropriately named. And I'm serious. To me, the term "pumpkin spice" indicates the same thing that the little jars of "pumpkin spice" in the spice section mean: cinnamon, clove, allspice, etc. What Starbucks and the look-a-likes are actually serving is Pumpkin Pie Lattes. Without the crust. Maybe Pumpkin Custard Lattes? But pumpkin spice is literally (yes, literally) spices used to spice your pumpkin pie. And if that's what the lattes were, then that would be the tastiest thing this side of Nutella crepes. But it's not. It's a mug of lies!! That said, I completely respect everyone is enjoys their mug of lies. I don't have to like everything that Starbucks makes. But the very least they could do is rename it, and stop filling me with false hope at every turn.

Was that a bit much? Are you still with me? Wow - congratulations. Seriously - thank you for sitting with me through that rant, I think we're all a little better for it. Go ahead and unfollow me, that's fine. But my premise is valid.

Now, I'll tell what won't fill you with sad and bitter remorse of wasted seasons sat in the office: these pumpkin cinnamon rolls (not pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls - they're appropriately named).

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and didn't change a thing. However, I did have trouble with the rise. I'm not sure if it's the Pacific North West working against me, or that the yeast wasn't fully awake (it was within the expiration date on the label)... I've made them twice and had trouble both times. On the second round, I was making them for family after Thanksgiving and couldn't wait for a longer rise. I thinned the dough with an extra egg, some oil, and some milk to make it into waffle batter. It made fan-TAS-tic waffles. We topped them with the same cinnamon roll icing. The batter made exactly 8 waffles for the group. And exactly 8 cinnamon rolls on the first attempt.

Check out the link here for the printable version of the recipe at Smitten Kitchen's website. These rolls are fantastic. But I need to continue tweaking to get these as fluffy as other rolls I've tried. The flavor is great, though. And perfect for New Year's morning after a night of partying!

Cranberry Relish

Confession time: I never enjoyed cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving when I was growing up. I am all for sweet-and-salty, but it always seemed way too sweet, weird color, and basically with no business taking up precious gravy space (Truth: I love gravy almost as much as coffee). I never understood it, but everyone seems to be obsessed, and I'm left out in the cold on this seasonal conspiracy.

So the idea of being tasked to make it for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's home was not really settling. I couldn't see getting it from a jar or can, especially if it's time for me to grow up and actually enjoy it. Plus, I have a pathological need for approval need to impress my in-laws with my awesome cooking skills. 

And then Megan sent me this. I laughed. I cried (from laughing too hard). It is rude, crude, and dead on. And it described a Bourbon Cranberry Relish that Williams & Sonoma will sell to you for $40. I'm not rich. But I could make that. In between my laughing tears, I actually stopped to ponder this dish. I like bourbon. So I could probably like anything made with bourbon. This highly scientific hypothesis has yet to be dis-proven (because, kids, you can never prove a hypothesis. You can only disprove it's opposite, and the closest yet has been a maple-bourbon martini but I haven't tried it).

Enter: Eat, Live, Run. She made a Bourbon Vanilla Cranberry Relish, and I adapted it based on my ingredients. I tried it this evening, and I was surprised by it! It's still a bit sweet for my taste - I'm still not sure if I will eat it with dinner on Thanksgiving. However, I am satisfied with this as an offering for my in-laws. I will consider adapting this as a dessert, too. Maybe I'm just not cut out for cranberry-lovin'. But I gave it a shot, and it's better with bourbon.

Ingredients:
14 oz. Cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Zest and juice from 1/2 orange
1/4 cup whiskey (or bourbon)
1/2 vanilla bean seeds

1. Weigh out the cranberries, picking over for duds. Afterwards, rinse the berries and let them airdry. Place them into a large pot.
2. Halve an orange. Zest and juice directly into the cranberries.
3. Halve a vanilla bean. Split one half and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the cranberries.
4. Add the measured whiskey, sugar, and water.
5. Heat the pot over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, until all of the berries have burst. 
6. The sauce will thicken as it cools. If you prefer most of a sauce, hit it a few times with your immersion blender.