Wax on, wax off

So my blogging is going to be put on hold for a bit while my husband and I are moving to our new house. After getting a quote for interior house painters, I scoffed at the price and said, "We can paint and save ourselves a bucket of cash!"

Four days later and there is no end in sight for my painting career. We did buy high quality paint, but the previous owners liked some interesting colors and everything needs two coats. So annoying. I guess their little girls really liked pink roses and Barney colored purple bedrooms. Yuck.

Now I know how the karate kid felt when he had to paint all of those fences.

I guess if there's a silver lining, is that the carpet is going to be replaced next week, so I can drip all the paint I want on the floor, since its going bye-bye anyway.

Today I'm going to start painting the kitchen and finish one of the bathrooms. I'm thinking of a rusty red, or something for the kitchen. Its pretty blah, so it needs some color. I prepped the walls yesterday and pulled out the fridge to clean behind it. That was scary....

After the walls and carpet are down, I can start working on my garden and start cooking again. My husband said I need to lay off the cookies and sweets for a bit. Says he can't have it around him. Fair enough.

So, hopefully I'll have some before and after pictures of the work in progress soon. TTFN- ta ta for now!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

While searching thru my freezer, I found a bag of cauliflower and decided to try a new soup. I found this recipe in Weeknights with Giada. I used frozen cauliflower rather than fresh, but you can use whatever is easier for you. Frozen tends to be cheaper, unless cauliflower is on sale. You can add cooked bacon as well.

Soup time!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

2 large celery ribs, chopped

Kosher salt and black pepper

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 head of cauliflower (or one bag of frozen cauliflower)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

4 cups chicken broth

In a large pot, melt the butter, then add the shallots and celery. Add 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook for about 4 minutes or until the onions are soft. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Next add the chicken broth.

And the cauliflower and thyme. Raise the heat till the soup is boiling. Then lower the heat and cover till the cauliflower is tender, about 20 minutes for fresh and 10 minutes for frozen.

Next remove from heat.

In batches, puree the soup in a blender. Then return to the pot.

Serve with some nice crusty bread.

Pine Nut Cookies

I've been trying to use all of the random ingredients in my fridge and pantry. We should be moving into our new house next week, so I can get all of my kitchen stuff back. Right now, most of my cool kitchen gadgets are in boxes. Boo.

While looking around my kitchen, I found some pine nuts in my freezer and decided to give these tasty cookies a try. I got the recipe from the Everyday Italian cookbook, by my favorite chef Giada.

Cute little butter cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground fennel seed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup pine nuts

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, ground fennel seed and salt and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Ground fennel seed can be hard to find. If you have a mortal and pestle, grind the fennel by hand. I just used whole fennel and the cookies turned out good. 

Next add the flour.

Mix until a dough forms. 

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into an 8-inch long log. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or use non stick baking sheets.

Cut the dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. 

Place the cookies on the baking sheets. Press the pine nuts atop the cookies. Bake for about 15 minute until the cookies are golden around the edges. Store in an airtight container.

These are great with coffee. Nice and buttery and crisp.

Cheddar Potato Soup

This is a great go-to soup for a cold night. I love potato soups. One of my favorite soups of all time. You can play around with different ingredients: bacon, cheeses, leeks, etc.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of red potatoes, cut and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
4 tablespoons of butter
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups milk
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish
4 spring green onions, chopped (optional)

1. Melt the butter in a medium stockpot, over medium heat. When the butter is bubbling, add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

2. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

3. Add the milk, vegetable stock, salt, pepper, thyme, and potatoes. Raise the heat till the soup is boiling, then lower the heat and simmer till the potatoes are fork tender.

4. Using a blender or hand held blender, puree the soup. I like to leave the soup a little chunky. Remove the soup from the heat and add the cheese and mix till the cheese has melted and creamy. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese and green onions.

White Bean Dip

With the Seahawks going to the Super Bowl (again!!) I'll be focusing on making some cool side dishes and snack foods to get prepared for the big game. Since moving to Seattle, I've loved living in a city with a professional football team. I know Southern California has the San Diego Chargers, but its just not the same for all of us who are or who have lived in the Los Angeles/ Orange County area. This is my take on Giada De Laurentiis's White Bean Dip, from her Everyday Italian cookbook.  

Yum Yum!

Ingredients:

2 cans of cannellini beans (white kidney beans) drained and rinsed

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 whole lemon)

1 teaspoon dried parsley

4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Place the beans, garlic, 1 tsp kosher salt, lemon juice, pepper, and parsley in a food processor. 

Plus to just combined. Then while the processor is running add the olive oil till its nice and creamy. Place in a dish and serve right away or cover and refrigerate for one day.

Goes great with pita chips!

Twice-baked Potato Casserole

This is the perfect comfort food dish, so it makes sense that it's one of Ree Drummond's recipes (The Pioneer Women). You can make it as an entire meal or as a side dish. (Think Super Bowl!) I only did half the recipe, from the one listed on foodnetwork.com. This recipe is the edited half recipe.

Ingredients:

8 russet potatoes
Canola oil spray
2 sticks of unsalted butter (plus more of buttering the dish)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese (you can experiment with jack, pepper jack, mild or sharp cheddar), plus more for topping
1 cup milk
2 tsp kosher salt
5 green onions
salt and pepper

So much amazing cheese!

First clean, scrub and pierce the skin of the potatoes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray all the potatoes with the canola oil spray and place on a baking sheet. After oven reaches 400, place in the oven for one hour. Remove from the oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Cut all of the potatoes in half and scoop out the pulp. You can have some of the skins from the potato, if you want. In a large bowl add the potato pulp, 2 sticks of butter and sour cream.

Mash the potato, butter and sour cream together, with a potato masher.

Next add the cheese, milk, onion and 2 tsp kosher salt. Now mix everything together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Be careful to not over salt.

Spread the mashed potato mixture into a buttered dish. Top with more cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes, it will be super hot! Enjoy!

Birchbox Day!

 I received my Birchbox in the mail today. Its like a special present for me every month! I've been subscribing to Birchbox for almost a year and I love every time I get a package in the mail.

This is how it works: its just $10 a month and they send you little beauty samples, snacks, and other goodies in a monthly package. If you like a product, you can then order it from their website. So simple.





This month, I got some shampoo, conditioner, lip gloss, hairspray, perfume and lotion. On their website they have a detailed questionnaire, so they know what products you like. Don't worry gentlemen, they also have a Birchbox for you too. If you're looking for a way to try out new products without having to run to the mall, give Birchbox a try. #birchbox #birchboxbrag

Chilaquiles (Breakfast Nachos)

I lived in Long Beach, Calif. for over 9 years and I got to try all kinds of international cuisines; Thai, Pho, Italian, Cambodian, seafood, but my all time favorite though is Mexican. This is my take on one of my favorite breakfast dishes. Chilaquiles are more traditional with homemade tortilla chips, but I cheated with store bought chips. You can experiment with different toppings, spices, cheese and salsas. Its a great dish to use leftovers in the fridge. Also its fantastic as a large brunch dish, without a lot of work.

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 cup salsa or 1 can diced tomatoes
1 bag tortilla chips (corn or flour)
1 cup mild cheddar cheese
1 cup leftover pulled pork (optional)
4-6 eggs (one for each person)
salt
pepper

The finished dish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking dish with a little bit of cooking spray and spread the black beans over the bottom of the pan.

Spread the salsa over the black beans. Add as much salsa as you want.

Then top with tortillas chips and the pulled pork.

Then top with the cheese.

Bake til cheese is nice and melted, about 12 minutes.

Look at the cheese!

Right before the Chilaquiles are finished, fry up the eggs. One egg per person. 

Scoop the Chilaquiles in a bowl, top with the egg and other toppings. I made a simple guac with a mashed up avocado, fresh lime juice, salt and pepper. Makes 2 servings of guacamole.

Homemade Pizza Dough

I know we can get premade pizza dough at most grocery stores, but making it fresh is so easy and tastes so much better. You can experiment with whole wheat or unbleached flour. For this recipe I used Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour. I used my Cuisinart Food Processor as well, but you can make this in a Kitchen Aid, with the dough hook or with your hands. I'm going to be honest, the dough didn't turn out perfect. I don't think there was enough gluten in the pastry flour for pizza dough, so next time I will use all-purpose flour.

Ingredients:

1 packet dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
2/3 cups warm water + 1/3 cold water
1 tsp sugar
1 2/3 all-purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup for flouring the counter
3/4 tsp kosher
1 tsp olive oil, plus oil for coating the dough ball

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place warm water in a bowl, then add sugar and yeast. Let sit for 3-5 minutes till the yeast is foamy.  

When its nice and foamy, like this, it'll also smell like bread :)

Place flour, salt and olive oil in mixing bowl. Make sure you use the dough blade and dough setting. Plus twice to mix and then add the cold water to the yeast mixture.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.

Run the processor till a ball forms and let it run for 30 minutes, so it kneads the dough.  

Coat the dough with olive oil and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise for 45-60 minutes.

It almost doubled in size!

I rolled out the dough on a floured surface. The dough was tearing when I was rolling it. I just pressed it together.

Place the dough on the tray and lightly spread some olive oil on it. Prick it the dough with a fork. Bake it for 10 minutes.

Take the pre-baked dough out of the oven and cover with desired toppings. I used some pesto I had in the fridge, mozzarella cheese, chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms. 

Bake the pizza for another 10 minutes. Let rest on cookie sheet for a few minutes and then cut. 

The dough was crisp and crunchy. It wasn't a soft crust, so I want to get a pizza stone so I can cook the dough faster.