brunch and fall coffee round-up!

I was so inspired to post earlier, and I made the mistake of switching on the tv, turning on my electric blanket (we're holding out on the heat in the apartment), and cozying up with....the internet.  *shame*

I wish I could say that I was distracted by a book (I've been meaning to start A Widow For One Year), or, you know, my grad class readings (uhoh), or even my homework.  But no - it was the internet that got me.  Oy.

Anyway, last Sunday my mom and I went out to brunch at the aforementioned Flavour Cafe.  We both ordered The F Bomb breakfast sandwich, described on their menu as "Flavour's very own breakfast sandwich.. 2 eggs, provolone cheese, our special sauce on a hard roll".  It was delicious!  The roll was what got me.  Rolls can make or break a sandwich for me.  I hate the really bready, starchy, almost tough rolls that are sometimes passed off as hard rolls.  I'm the girl who only uses half a hamburger bun for hamburgers.  But this roll was much more of a croissant/hard roll hybrid in terms of its texture and taste....deliciously flaky and tender.  Yum!

I also ordered the Pumpkin Spice Latte to add to my now-growing list of fall-themed beverages that were had.  The presentation was lovely, I'm a huge fan of whipped cream, as are most people!  And the drink itself was not overly sweet, which I'm always afraid of when drinking a flavored coffee drink.  I'll definitely be going back for more of this one as well.  I love anything pumpkin flavored!  Next up on the list is one of the campus cafe's drinks - Pumpkin Chai Latte.

Now, time to get to bed...working out with Julie at 7:30am tomorrow.  Eek!

good coffee :)

I know it's fall and classes have started because I've been craving coffee again.  Of course, after my visit to Seattle, my coffee taste will never be the same again.  Not that that's necessarily a bad thing!  But all that's available on campus is Green Mountain so I've gravitated more towards the coffee based drinks, like mochas and lattes.  Yum!

 

Chris and I got a Pumpkin Pie Latte at MochaBlend Cafe, a cute coffee place by Price Chopper near campus.  I'm definitely a regular there, and Chris and I were in search of a fall-themed beverage.  I figured they would pull through!  My second favorite coffee place is Flavour Cafe and Lounge, closer to downtown Troy.  Flavour Cafe has a super cute staff (SO friendly!) and I love the ambiance there.  MochBlend is very earthy warm toned, and Flavour Cafe is full of cool, soothing colors.  But, I have to say that even though Flavour Cafe has the edge of very skilled baristas (see below!), MochaBlend wins out by an edge because Flavour Cafe tends to have off-days where the coffee is just. not. good.  Strange. 

 

I can't wait to try all the other fall coffees and whatnot that I'm sure will spring up soon.  And, this weather means I can finally break out my MarketSpice tea again!

 

All I have are cell phone pictures because I never think to bring my camera to these places...gah.

Amazing Pumpkin Pie Latte from MochaBlend

 

Chris approves!  And I wanted something for scale..those mugs are humongous!

recent deliciousness!

 

These were just so good I couldn't resist blogging about them!  Sometime in August, I made Cheddar Scallion Biscuits with Garlic Butter, blogged about at Cheap Cooking.  The garlic butter was definitely an excellent addition, as the biscuits were pretty mild in flavor.  I think next time I make them I might try adding in some bacon.

I have ALWAYS dreamed about making tiramisu.  Back before I was in college, I was an absolutely hopeless baker.  I loved it so much, but even mixes wouldn't come out for me.  It was actually pretty sad, thinking back on it, how many times I attempted to bake a cake or pretty much anything and how often it failed.

I tried making tiramisu exactly once.  I was so disappointed!  The filling was horribly lumpy, not sweet at all, and the ladyfinger cookies were nothing but a soggy mush.  Not to mention I felt pretty bad that my dad had bought me the (expensive) mascarpone cheese and I had clearly butchered the recipe.

When I saw a bag of real Italian ladyfingers at the local Italian deli, I decided to try again...and I have to say I was quite the opposite of disappointed!  I used Pioneer Woman's Tiramisu recipe, and I CAN make Tiramisu, I can!

 

Mmmmm, look at that. :D

And of course, I have to post my go-to recipes for yellow cake and chocolate frosting (a birthday cake classic!).  Culinary Concoctions by Peabody's Yellow Cake and Fudgy Chocolate Frosting are my standards.  I refuse to try another recipe most of the time because these are just so perfect!  This cake is moist, flavorful, and has the perfect crumb.  And the frosting is super easy to make, spreads well, and is delicious!

For this cake, I actually (gasp!) used another recipe - the Magnolia Vanilla Cupcake recipe - substituting the self-rising flour (didn't have any), and baking it in a cake pan.  The yellow cake recipe I use is a little too crumby to decorate that way I wanted to for this cake, so I tried the Magnolia recipe instead....wow!  My roommate is the cake decorator in the house (she's great!) and she was very impressed by how flat the cake baked, and how evenly the layers cut.  I have to say, I much prefer the taste of Peabody's yellow cake to this vanilla cake, but opinions on that have varied, I've found.

And last, but absolutely-certainly not least, we have....Fudgy Brownies from John Scharffenberger.  Oh. My. God.  You must make these!  The recipe takes a whole lot of chocolate, so quality really matters here.  I used half Ghiradelli's Baking Bar chocolate, half Lindt chocolate.  Holy moly. The whole key to this recipe, other than quality of chocolate, is to really mix the batter until it's glossy and pulls away from the bowl.  That's what creates the perfectly crackled/chewy crust on the brownie.  So good!

the best cup of coffee you'll ever have

   + =  YUM!

Caffe Ladro Fremont Blend coffee, made in a percolator (finally!)

 

Now back to my Fundamentals of Animation work....

delicious? or just a bad idea?

SO.  a tad bit late (oh when will I learn!), but here's the macaroni and cheese pizza post that I promised.

I had been doing my "research" (searches for "pizza" on flickr) for the next pizza I was going to make, and came across several pictures of DELICIOUS looking macaroni and cheese pizza that I knew I had to try.  but I didn't want to make a mac n cheese only pizza, so bacon was the natural second choice of ingredient.  I figured I had to try add something vaguely nutritious to the pizza (if nothing else but to make it look a little more appealing), so I grabbed some frozen chopped spinach in the grocery store and threw that on as well.

mmm, look at all of that deliciousness.

now, although this pizza was incredibly delicious, it was also incredibly rich and had me slightly sick the next day.  chris didn't seem to have much of a problem with it (he does agree it was very rich though), so I'm venturing a guess that my body just wasn't used to all of that creamy/greasy goodness at once.

but don't let that deter you!  I can see this being an excellent snowed-in movie night dinner.  NOM!

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Bacon, Spinach, and Macaroni & Cheese Pizza

pizza dough (I use this recipe)

prepared package of Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 lb bacon

1/2 of a 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

3/4 C mozzarella cheese

1/4 C tomato sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven at to its highest temperature. (Mine goes to 450 F...the higher the temperature, the better the pizza)

Let the pizza dough sit at room temperature while the bacon is cooked.

Cook the bacon on the stove at medium high until just under crisp (it will crisp more in the oven).  Dispose of or save the fat and lay bacon slices on paper towels to soak up extra grease.  Chop the bacon into bite size pieces.

Spread the dough on a greased pan.  Poke the dough with a fork if you're having a tough time - this will break up some of the gluten.  Once the dough is shaped, spread the olive oil over the dough.  Sprinkle the dough with the spices and garlic, and then spread the tomato sauce over that.

Next, add the macaroni and cheese layer.  You're not going to want to use all of it, that'll be too much.  Spread the macaroni and cheese over the dough so it makes a single layer.  Then top with the spinach.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the pizza.  Top the pizza with bacon pieces.

Bake in the oven until crust is lightly browned and crispy.  At 450 F, it usually takes my pizzas 10-12 minutes to cook.  Check on it regularly after 8-10 minutes of cooking.

Enjoy!

Quick Update - Summer of Pizza

I'm writing this from the corner of my couch, curled up with some Lychee tea, Harry Potter 7 open at my side (the Ministry just fell), and my laptop balanced on a knee.  There's a thunderstorm rolling in!  From my seat on the couch I have the best view of the lightning over our woods - I'm at home for another few days, then back to work after a marvelous 2 week vacation with my family.

 

Nina just got back from working at the Omega Holistic Institute as a seasonal worker, and brought back some amazing brownies with her.  They had the perfect brownie texture - fudgy, but still cake-like, deeply chocolatey, and smooth.  Yum!  Those brownies got me thinking about comfort foods, and comfort foods got me thinking about the Summer of Pizza.

 

This summer was the Summer of Pizza for Chris and me (and I? Gah.).  Anyway, we found a great little deli near us called Maselli's, right on the way to Price Chopper.  They sell "pizza making kits" for $3.50.  What a bargain!  It includes homemade pizza dough, freshly grated mozzarella cheese, and their own tomato sauce.  Heavenly.  And the best part is, we almost always have sauce leftover after we make the pizzas!

 

So anyway.  Chris is due for a guest post, to talk about two of his amazing pizzas.

Shallot Grape Focaccia, made for the Apartment Warming Brunch.  I suppose this isn't technically a pizza, but it WAS made with pizza dough, so it counts in my book!

Chicken, Spinach, Artichoke Pizza with White Sauce.  YUM!  I actually might have been missing a few ingredients, but that's why I'm not making that post ;).  This was kind of a take-off on a pizza I had in Seattle from a "Take and Bake" place.  I don't know if that's a new term for anyone else, but I thought it was really cool!  We don't have those on the East Coast.  The idea is you order a pizza from a menu, and they put it together for you.  Then you take it home and bake it yourself!  Deeeeelicious.

<--Pizza inspiration.

 

I do miss Seattle.

 

P.S. Look for my Mac 'n Cheese, Bacon, and Spinach Pizza recipe to be up later this weekend!

perfect for a sunday brunch apartment warming

So, this post is a bit overdue.  And by a bit, I mean extremely.  BUT now that that's over with, let me tell you a story!

I am a normal college student; by normal, I mean that I could not WAIT to get out of the dorms and into an apartment with an actual kitchen (of course that's what I would look forward to the most!)  So, I was super excited when Chris told me he and all of his roommates were moving out of their (gorgeous!) apartment last year and that I could call dibs.

And so that is how I signed the lease for my first apartment back in April or so, with 3 close girlfriends from RPI.  I am still really excited to have the place, but I never thought about the amount of responsibility that comes with living on your own.  The knowledge that if the toilet breaks or floods, it's solely our responsibility to clean it up, is terrifying!  I'm a girl, I don't know how to deal with that...(and I don't mean that in a sexist way at all, it's just that I am not interested whatsoever in sticking my hand into the toilet tank if the chain falls off (it's held on by a paperclip in the downstairs bathroom), or dealing with a toilet bowl covered in mold after a long, humid weekend.)

I guess that makes me sound like a bit of a baby. 

But moving on!  The best part (in my opinion) of having an apartment is the endless opportunities I now have to entertain.  I have a kitchen!  A living room!  A kitchen table that won't be covered in disgusting unidentifiable pieces of food! (Hopefully!!)  HALLELUJAH!

Perhaps I sound a bit too enthused by these ideas, but let me have my moment of happiness please. (Notice that I'm refraining from discussing the two DISGUSTING GIANT AWFUL house centipedes that we found this summer.  MOVING ON.....)

I recently had some family over to partake in an absolutely delicious Sunday Apartment Warming Brunch (if I do say so myself).

The menu was: Cinnamon Bun French Toast (me), Grape Foccacia (Chris), Egg and Veggie Breakfast Casserole (my mom), Fresh Tomato Citrus Basil salad (my aunt), Guacamole (Chris), and Fruit and Yogurt Parfait (me).  Mmmmmm!

I've made my Cinnamon Bun French Toast for 2 brunches now - it's the perfect amount of sweetness to be considered breakfast, but rich enough for lunch.  I find that you don't even need to use syrup with this, since it's so gooey from the frosting and filling already.  I always use pre-made Freihoffer's Cinnamon Buns as the base, but if you want to make your own, I'm sure it'd be that much better!

 

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Cinnamon Bun French Toast

1 pckg Freihoffer's Cinnamon Buns (or 6 cinnamon buns of choice)

5 eggs

2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup heavy cream

Butter or oil for pan

Slice cinnamon buns horizontally, so you have 12 pieces.  Combine eggs, vanilla, spices, and heavy cream in a large bowl.  Whisk together until mixed. 

Heat a butter or oil in a large frying pan or skillet on medium heat.  Working in batches of 2-3 at a time, dip cinnamon bun slices in egg mixture, making sure to get both sides.  Place slices in frying pan and cook until golden on each side - about 3-4 minutes per side.  Remove from pan when done, and prepare next batch.

Serves 6