What If We Went to Italy

It was an absolute blizzard in Charlottesvegas this past weekend. My mind left to its own devices in snowy, cold, winter weather obviously resorts to the preparation and eating of food, and lots of it. So H. and I decided to make gnocchi (Italian for "dumplings") for ourselves and whoever else wanted an escape to Italy amidst the seemingly never ending snow (that is, if they wanted to brave the roads). Sadly enough, only one of H.'s roomies could join us. I'd never even eaten gnocchi before, but we decided to make it from scratch, and it turned out to be really delicious (to me, at least). So we made it from a recipe in one of my Martha Stewart Bible-sized cookbooks, which had very nice, methodical directions for making gnocchi each step of the way, complete with pictures. So really, last Friday's feat couldn't have been accomplished without Niknak and her great ideas-big shout out to Niknak! We made spinach potato gnocchi and ate it with a creamy vodka sauce. Here's a glimpse of the preparation:

H. successfully made the potatoes look like they'd been through a ricer, a kitchen gadget that neither one of us own nor plan on owning in the near future. It started getting really thick and gooey and doughy once the flour was being added, so it may have been smart to use the sweet KitchenAid mixer and dough hook that sat in the corner rolling its eyes at us. However, we made ourselves feel better by repetitively stating how authentic the experience was because H. mixed the dough (which took forever) and I kneaded it for a couple of minutes to get the gluten working. That's some really authentic Italian hard work right there.

Then H. rolled the dough out and cut it into the little one-inch thick dumplings...

I took a fork and made them magically turn into cute little gnocchi! You roll one side over a fork and press in on the opposite side with your thumb so that there's a pocket on the gnoccho that will hold sauce. Very clever idea, props to the inventor(s) of gnocchi as well as MS for her good directions!

I had a big chunk of time to perfect the technique of gnocchi-crafting (or whatever it's called); there was another panful besides this one.

We laughed because we spent so much time making the gnocchi only to eat it with canned sauce, but it was still delicious. You just cook them in boiling water for a little over 2 minutes; when they rise to the top of the boiling water, you leave them in for another 15 seconds to give them that fluffy, "elegant" texture, according to MS. Because it would be the end of the world if gnocchi were "inelegant." Because we made so much, we froze the majority of it. So, a freezer bag and two minutes later will yield fresh gnocchi anytime for the next couple of weeks I'm sure, as there were copious amounts of it.

And then there were spicy molten lava cakes to go around afterward...these are becoming a go-to dessert for me to make...again, thanks be given to Niknak for the recipe! And they pair quite nicely with whatever red wine you use in the recipe...I think it was a Shiraz this time around.

Next on the pasta-making agenda will be some sort of meat-filled ravioli. Maybe we should gobble all the gnocchi up before undertaking another project of this sort (or split the recipe perhaps). I highly recommend a little excursion to Italy such as this one. It was a fun project, it tasted delicious, it was made with minimal amounts of moolah, and it was topped off by a snowball pitching contest.

Tea and Sympathy

I saw these yumyum-looking cookies, chocolate Early Grey sandwich cookies with white chocolate filling, a few months ago and I thought 3 things, 1. I love chocolate. 2. I love Earl Grey tea and 3. I love fillings/icings/frostings, and then my mind conjured up all the lovely desserts that I love to consume.

I had several goals for these cookies, and maybe I set my expectations too high, but let's just say that the goals were not satisfied. I should preface why the goals were not completed with the following statement: I have been feeling very experimental in the kitchen and a wee bit too adventurous, so needless to say, these cookies were a humbling experience. I took the MacGuyver approach to these cookies: I had all the necessary ingredients to make them, but I kind of made up the recipe using elements from a bunch of different ones. Bad Idea. I even bought a cute duck shaped cookie cutter for the occasion (I don't even like ducks, but the cuteness of this cookie cutter overcame me.). I wanted the cookies to be a crunchy shortbread, not chewy, and I wanted the white chocolate filling to be creamy and fluffy, but I also wanted it to harden a little bit in between the cookies. The cookie dough was a disaster. I couldn't even use the cookie cutter because it was so gooey. The cookies tasted fine, they actually had a pretty nice flavor. I loved the integration of the chocolate and bergamot (from the Earl Grey). I think my disheartened mood had to do with my little duckie cookie cutter ultimately getting excluded from the project. A quick word on the filling. I was really amped about the filling because I thought it would blend well with the cookies and be absolutely delicious. However, I did not use a double boiler to melt the white chocolate. Bad Idea. I scalded the chocolate, it separated from the butter and it was a hot mess. I didn't have enough white chocolate to try to remake it (and I was snowed in), so I got aggravated and was overcome with disappointment. The chocolate Earl Grey sandwich cookies with white chocolate filling defeated me on Saturday night. The only encouraging thing about this story is that they tasted better the next day, go figure. On Monday night, I wanted to prove to myself that I could make other cookies without botching them up. Well, I made chocolate chocolate chip cookies (I'd venture to call chocolate an obsession...), and now I'm running out my ears in cookies. Luckily everybody at my office likes my confections enough to humor me; hopefully they'll gobble them all up! Chocolate Cakery Shenanigans Update: The latest cakes I have made in the past week are some spicy molten chocolate cakes (recipe compliments of Niknak); they are delectable. I bought some little red ramekins to bake them in, and when you cut into them, chocolate lava runs out of them. They are seriously fancy restaurant quality, just because of the lava. Perfect with a light dusting of confectioner's sugar and a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. MMMMMmm.

Chocolate

I never really think about New Year's Resolutions until about a week before every new year. I set goals for myself all the time, and when they're fulfilled I create new ones, yada yada yada. I'm in continual amazement each year at the people who say that their New Year's Resolution is to "get into shape." I actually think it's utterly hilarious and here's why: I normally lose weight during the Christmas whirlwind of parties filled with delicious yummies because it's always so busy. However, I get hit with the Post-Christmas Funk about 2 weeks after the New Year and want to eat everything in sight; also during this time, I could hover over a mixer or stove top in the kitchen all day long and never even care about the time spent doing so. With all that being said, I have set some lighthearted goals for myself (that don't include a gym membership), which I intend to take quite seriously, that will be merely the commencement of goals set and satisfied in 2010. One such aspiration is to make the perfect chocolate cake.

My friend Java Lady hosts a dinner party about once a week, and since I love to make dessert, I have gotten into the habit of providing the last course of the meal....unless I'm feeling super lazy and make Java Lady do all the work...Anyways, I've already warned the dinner party crew that they should be prepared to consume copious amounts of chocolate cake this year because they're my guinea pigs for R.'s 2010 Chocolate Cakery Shenanigans.

When I was in Boulder for the summer of 2008, I used to pop into a little hole in the wall restaurant called The Burnt Toast and buy a piece of their chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and a Clementine Izze. If you haven't had one of these, get one; Clementine Izzes are what killed Elvis (Not really, but that's what my dad always says when something's outrageously, mind-blowingly delicious.)! The chocolate cake at The Burnt Toast was awesome, and I'd like to re-create it as well as be known for making the perfect chocolate cake. I don't think it's too much to ask for (maybe I should ask for some larger pants with all this upcoming cakery).

With that being said, January 19, 2010 was the beginning. I got 5 cookbooks for Christmas, so I thumbed through them for a recipe with which to commence, and I ended up using a Martha Stewart recipe. While it was a really good recipe, it's not quite what I was looking for. The cake was a little dense; I'm looking for something lighter and fluffier. I did learn a few things, though.

First, why haven't I been heeding recipes that tell me to use parchment paper as pan liners? The two chocolate cakes came off so clean that I didn't even have to wash the cake pans! That was a joke, but seriously, I'm going to start using parchment paper on a regular basis when I bake.


This was by far the most interesting buttercream frosting that I've ever made. It's made with egg whites (I had no idea one could even do that). You have to whisk the sugar, egg whites and a pinch of salt constantly until the mixture reachs 160 F, then you have to mix the concoction in the mixer until stiff peaks form and the mixture is cool (about 10 minutes). Then you add about a pound or more of butter as well as semi-sweet chocolate and voila, you have some just right, not too rich, very light and fluffy chocolate buttercream icing to go on the rich chocolate cake.


And then I slathered the whole cake with the buttercream goodness.


Then, the attendees of Java Lady's latest dinner party, D. and H. and I, all ate cake (after indulging in grilled flank steak medallions, cheesy-sour cream smashed potatoes and green bean casserole). My overall synopsis of this cake is this: It was a little dense in texture, a little too rich, a smidgen dry, and just overall not exactly what I'm looking for in the perfect chocolate cake. The frosting was paired perfectly with the cake, though; and it was a decent cake overall, but I don't know that I'll be making Martha's "Basic Chocolate Cake" again any time soon. One down!

If You Can Afford Me

Every year in January, my mom implements a little concept she likes to call "The No-Spend Zone," which basically means that you can't buy anything in January. It's such a great idea because I love to shop, but I don't need a thing in the world. So it's a good exercise in self-control and discipline. With that being said, I'd like to admit that in my downtime on the Internet, I like to buzz around to my favorite sites, most of which are all retail stores, (besides all my fav. blogs listed on the left) such as Anthro, Piperlime, Sundance, Martha Stewart, etc. The weather here was absolutely great this past weekend, and the first day that it's warmer than 40 degrees outside in the winter, Spring Fever slaps me right across the face and I automatically want to buy something bright and kitschy for the kitchen or some cute shoes. Someone please relate to this so I won't feel weak in character. I fall prey to so many marketing strategies, it's not even funny; at least I can own to it. Anyways, I was frolicking around on the Internet the other day and spotted these gorgeous pitches from Sundance...

...except it costs a whopping $90.00 for one of these beauties (There is a happy ending to this product love, I promise.).

But I randomly went on a Target run with JavaLady last week and spotted this cutesy little pitcher, which is the exact same color as the one from Sundance (the picture doesn't do it justice), and I fell in love with it. Happy Ending: $10.00 for this baby. I can't wait to make some lemonade or sangria to serve in it!

So even though I broke the laws of the No Spend Zone this January 2010, I think Mom would be proud of my find.

Come'on 'N Ride The Train

I had a shift of plans for New Year's Eve 2009; I had originally planned to stay in Lebanon and party it up down there, but on a whim, I decided to buy a train ticket from Charlottesville to Union Station in Washington D.C. My best friend Kerr from UVa lives there (actually, she lives on the Maryland-side of DC, but I still consider it DC), and another great friend of mine from UVa Danno lives in NoVa, so I thought it would be a great time to see everybody while we didn't all have to work. I brought in the New Year with Kerr and other friends at Danno's house in NoVa, then went to Kerry's house with her on New Year's day. On Saturday we decided to hit up some Smithsonian museums on the Mall, so we went to the National Museum of American History and the National Gallery of Art. Highlights included seeing Julia Child's kitchen, my first encounter with Claude Monet original paintings and my personal favorite, the original ruby red slippers used in The Wizard of Oz.

Kerr and I metro-ing into the city!

This is Martha Washington's inaugural ball gown. How do they preserve these things?

Julia's Cambridge, MA kitchen.

In the display kitchen, there were all the books that she authored and co-authored...I actually wonder if she had all of her own cookbooks on a bookshelf in her kitchen. If I had written a bunch of books, I don't think I'd have them on display in my house, but then again, I haven't accomplished anything of the sort, so I'm not judging Julia.

Okay, here they are...number one reason why I wanted to go to the National Museum of American History. When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz, and when we'd be at the grocery store and people would ask me what my name was, I would just smile at them and say, "Dorothy!" I love love loved the ruby red slippers and had a semi-replica pair that were only good for leaving scuffs all over the kitchen linoleum. I actually read L. Frank Baum's book The Wizard of Oz over my last college Christmas break and the slippers in the book are silver, which was a disappointment. And for those of you who think the happenings in the movie are pretty out there, the book is even crazier!

"Sunday, Monday, Happy Days, Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days!..." I was pleasantly surprised to find that the American History Museum has The Fonz's leather jacket! It's the little things in life that bring me joy. "Eyyy!"

I'm going to preface comments about what I'm getting ready to write with, I really don't like the Muppets...at all (If you're reading this and you do, move right along to the next photo please.). I thought it was a little ridiculous that they have Kermit sitting in a plexiglass encasement when they could have had something much cooler like Michael Jordan's basketball jersey or some Elvis sunglasses. But no, they felt the need to put Kermit the frog on exhibition. Stupid frog. Okay, I'll stop venting now. Next!

I've never really considered myself a person who's really "into art." I don't get amped about going into art museums, but Kerr and I really love paintings from the Impressionism era, so we made a beeline to the French paintings portion of the museum. It was my first time seeing an original Claude Monet painting. You know when movies depict one or more of their characters having epiphanies while standing in front of some weird painting, and it looks all emotional and life-changing? Well, I know what the movies are trying to impart. I love this painting; I think the movement in it is exquisite--I love how the wind is depicted in art, whether it be in literature, paintings, songs, etc. I felt like a fool standing in front of the Madame Monet and her son because I used to say things like, "I don't really like art," or, "I'm not really into art." And then I felt like an even bigger idiot for taking a picture of it for this here blog. But this digital moment captured below marks a very pivotal moment for me with regard to my art appreciation. The good thing is that I didn't use flash--preserve art!

Danno, Kerr, Me and Jesco catching a Metro after meeting for dinner.

Danno had told me about his sweet Cole Haan shoes, which were really awesome. However, on the Metro ride to Kerr's house, I noticed that he was rocking Nike socks with them, which I'm going to go ahead and call a fashion faux pas. Hi, my name is R. and I'm the Shoe-Sock Coordination Police.

Kerr and I decided to visit another college friend, JohnJohn, who lives on the VA side of D.C. Kerr got a new GPS for Christmas, so we just typed in the address and it told Kerr where to go. You have to be careful with GPSs, though, because sometimes the shortest distance is not always the best route...It took us through the middle of D.C...and back...but we finally made it to JohnJohn's house. This is a little bit of what our trip looked like...a total blur:

I really enjoyed the train ride to D.C. because I didn't have to stress about where to park my car the whole weekend, and plus, it was something new for me. I'd never taken a trip via train before last weekend, so I'd say it was a success. Another notch on my travel savvy belt. I'm not even going to try to tackle New Year's resolutions on this post...another day, my friends, another day.

Don't Stop Believin'

I haven't blogged in so long that I really don't know where to begin....with Christmas, I suppose. I went home the weekend before Christmas and was intending to go back to work for a couple of days prior to Christmas but was unable to do so because of the 30 inches of snow that got dumped onto Charlottesvegas that weekend. While Leb didn't exactly get 30 inches, I couldn't get Black Jack (my car) off of the driveway either, so I was snowed in! Whoohoo! It was the perfect easement out of college and into the real world; I mean, in college, you get a whole month off. Instead I got 2 weeks off from work, (the week of Christmas because of the snow, and the office is always closed between Christmas and the New Year)!

While at home, I went to only one of the karaoke nights in Lebanon on this trip; if one so chooses, he or she can gallavant around Lebanon on 4 different nights to give a one or 15-song concert. I think karaoke can be really fun, though. I sang my classic "Don't Stop Believin'" at The Old Mill one evening; it's the karaoke song that I sing every time I do karaoke. The problem with karaoke is that I actually have to feel like I'm giving a concert while singing it, and if I think the song is lame or not rockin' enough, well, my performance reflects those sentiments. On to other things, though... I went to various Christmas parties with family and friends, played lots and loads of games, which I loved dearly but between all the Monopoly, Catch Phrase (I may actually be confusing these games with Thanksgiving's festivities), Christmas Vacation Trivia and Wheel of Fortune (not to mention the sound of the Yahtzee dice), I am ready to refuel with the free 10 HBO movie channels I'm currently receiving at my apartment. Oh, did I mention that I'm the 1st Annual G. Family Christmas Ping Pong Tournament Champion (played on the court of my sis-in-law's new pong table from Bran)? That's right, I beat the sis-in-law, the mother, the brother and the dad...all I can say is, I didn't go to college for nothing! I'll be ready for some games in another week or so, though. Scrabble anyone? Here are some depictions of my lovely time in Leb for a couple of weeks:

Mom and I snapping shots of our Christmas Eve attire.

Here we have Jug and Tristo playing an epic game of Jenga (a game during which I was merely a spectator). Apparently, they were breaking some Guinness Book record for highest Jenga tower....I think it feel on the 33rd or 34th level.

My 3 lovely aunts, mother, and the one who makes all the magic happen, Granny. I love this picture!

Dually dubbed the Best Action Shot and Game Face of 2009...that's my big brother there. :-)

Answer me this: If each time that you sang karaoke you were required to sing the same song, which one would it be?

We Are Family

This post is a change of pace for me. Don't think I'm getting lazy about blogging, but among the Christmas gift making, Christmas gift wrapping and Christmas party attending (No, actually, I think shopping would be a more appropriate label for this...) among my normal endeavors in the Real World, I have been quite busy (and my apartment looks like Katrina hit it). I was sitting in my office today and ran across a website thanks to my friend J.; it's so awesome that I wanted to share it with all four of my readers. I hope it brings tears to your eyes like it did mine. Here it is...

"Down On Penny's Farm"

Since I decided to take a hiatus from this blog, I have decided to document my whereabouts in segments. Last week while I was home for Thanksgiving, I headed down to Dad's and my brother Bran's farm to check out the new happenings. Here is what it looks like when you first drive in:

I said I went down to Dad and Bran's farm, but really, I should call it Penny's farm. Penny is my dad's Red Heeler, whose nicknames include "Pinks," and more commonly, "Pinky." I called her Penny Lane when she was a puppy, but it didn't really stick, but Penny is a good name for her; I'm sure you can guess why in the below photo. She's the queen bee around there.

This is Pinky. She's so sweet.

Here's the corn silage that they grew earlier this year and feed to the cattle along with some farm equipment I can't name:

This new cattle trailer is the new project at the farm. The boys have been cleaning it out (I can't imagine the stench) and getting it ready for hauling:

Here's a picture of Pinky doing what she does best, rounding up cattle for Dad. Those are the two calves that Peanut is raising, and she brought them right into their pin in the barn, not far from where I was standing when I took this picture.

And last but not least, there were some wild cats that hang out in the barn (along with a couple of Great Pyrenees: Butch and Patch). One of them is pretty tame, though; I was painting a gate this past summer and she was a little too friendly with me and the gate. She rubbed black paint all over herself (and me). There's probably still cat hair stuck to the gate. When I asked Bran what her name was, he said he just calls her "Cat." And it's proven, she responds to Cat. I love it.

How You Remind Me

Everybody's heard the Nickelback song "How You Remind Me;" I'm going on this assumption, at least. I was in 9th grade when that song became popular at Lebanon High School, and there was always someone blaring "Never made it as a wise man, I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'....." in the student parking lot when Bran and I would drive to our respective parking spot in Big D. I form all kinds of associations with songs and events, it's just kind of how my mind works, and this song always always always reminds me of LHS football season. I went to all the games, painted my face red, white and black, wore ribbons in my hair, made tee shirts, you name it, I was as school-spirited as you could get without wearing glitter or being a cheerleader (I always wanted to be one when I was a little girl, but something in me just couldn't quite do it when I got to high school...wait, I can't remember if I did or didn't wear glitter.). Anyways, I went to LHS's homecomings game my first year of college, and that was the last time I'd been...until two weekends ago. I went to see a playoff game with my aunt and uncle and their famdamily (Morg, or Skillet as Dad calls him, plays JV) at our home field. I hadn't been to a game in 4 years, and it was so fun and awesome. Here are some pictures from the game.

"Skillet" is #87

Proud dad and little brother

And the fine gentleman in the black shirt is Doc. Doc has been a coach for LHS's football team since I can remember being in school. Some things never change. He's awesome.

And here's the famdamily minus one member...Ace, you know who you are.

When I go back to Lebanon, people always tell me how grown up I look and that they remember me when I was "this tall" (including the hand gesture that would make me 4'6"), and it's kind of difficult searching for the right response. Do you say, "Oh really? [long pause] Awesome...." It's always kind of awkward. What are you supposed to say to things like that? Yeaaaah, but seriously, my cousin Morg has really grown up, but then again, I'm not that tall. It was a great day for a football game.

Rocky Mountain High

Remember when you were a little kid in the 5 ft section of the swimming pool? You used to have to hoist yourself out of the pool because there was never a ladder near by (and it was way over your head). Well, when I was in Boulder in the summer of '08, that's how my bed was.....too tall and no ladder. I used to have to jump really high to get in bed, but I was so tired at the end of the day that it was very laborious. And then when I got out of the bed in the morning, I always expected to put my feet right onto the floor, but no, you had to slither off the bed and hit the cold tile floor with a thump on the bare feet. And it always stung and tingled badly when I did that. Sometimes when I get out of bed now and I feel that achy, tingly feeling, it always makes me think of when I lived in Boulder for 1.5 months. Great memories, best summer of my life. I don't think I've ever walked as much as I did that summer.

This was the view outside my window: Chautauqua Mountain, part of the Boulder Flatirons....Boulder's in the foothills of the Rockies: Here is a dear friend I made while in Boulder. We are standing next to a Glacial Lake at Pike's Peak: We went to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, CO also. Here's a little "lake" (looked more like a pond to me) that we found called Cub Lake. The funniest part about this is that we didn't know what it was while we were there, but I was in a gift shop in Estes Park later and saw a post card that looked like this, minus me and my bra strap sitting in front of it (and it showed more of the actual "lake"):

I realize that this post may lend itself to nostalgia, but I'm enjoying the memories while writing. I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, and if you don't already know or haven't heard, they're totally amazing. People forewarned me about the beauty of Colorado, and coincidentally, they all said the same thing, "It's a different beauty out there." I didn't know what that meant until I got there. It really is gorgeous; however, I was glad to come back home to Virginia after a month and a half. I had missed it. Two of my closest friends that I met and worked with in Boulder, J. and S., who I hope will continue to be lifelong friends, came to visit me in Charlottesville last year. We had a great visit, and I took them to see some real beauty up on Skyline Drive: