Giving Thanks... in 2010

I don't think anyone can deny the love we all have for thanksgiving. No school (or work), pigging out, bonding with the fam, and cybermonday (and/or black friday)... I am incredibly grateful for a break at this time of year, and an opportunity to give thanks. This year I spent my thanksgiving day in yoga pants and an oversized sweater- and I could not be happier with my fashion decisions as I laid flat out on the livingroom rug post-stuffing my face dinner.

Here is the short list of what I'm thankful this year (trust me, you don't want the long list- it'll take forever to read)

1. my parents, for always loving me and putting up with my childish ways all these years.

2. being in the company of really really ridiculously fabulous people while I shop/ study/ work/ cook/ discuss fashion/ travel/ gossip... etc.

3. health. though I'm still really young, I'm getting to the point when I start worrying about my parents/family getting sick... I'm glad everyone is healthy and well. 

4. optimism. I'm a firm believer in that as long as you look for the good in people and life, things will turn out. There's nothing more important than keeping an optimistic attitude if you want a happy life.

Annnd here comes the best part, some pictures of the delicious/will-make-you-salivate foods that I've had the opportunity to make/eat this last week. Enjoy! 

{true story} staying in is the new going out

chocolate pumpkin cupcakes with orange cream cheese glaze

Everyone in my apartment has a shirt that says "Staying in is the new going out". (it's pretty high fashion) We got them over a year ago, when we first moved in together, because we thought it was such a cute cheeky line. I am not exactly sure if we can blame this on the shirts- but we have definitely been living by this motto lately. On a 35 degree Friday evening, nothing sounds worse than getting dressed up in low-cut tops & high heels to go out and party. And nothing sounds better, than to bake something delicious to Christmas music in our flannel pajamas, and watch a chick flick while drinking hot chocolate. Remember the Kit-Kat Mocha Cupcakes? That was a Friday night adventure also. Looks like we are establishing ourselves as the coolest kids in college with our Friday night baking traditions...

We found the recipe for these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes with orange cream cheese glaze through Good Life Eats. Katie always has the best recipe ideas- and such great photographs also! Although as you can tell from the photos, our frosting turned out to be more of a glaze than a cream frosting for some strange reason, but still delicious. The richness of the chocolate, hints of pumpkin and spices, and the refreshing citrus in the frosting work... oh, and we also found them to go along with spiked cider, really well.

{baking in the spirit of} halloween candies

Kit kat mocha cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. Absolutely to die for! In our household, kit-kats are our favorite halloween candy. So we figured we'd incorporate it into our favorite things to bake- cupcakes!

We found the recipe on this blog called Kitchen Karate. What's really cool is that this blog is actually written by a boy in college! We're thoroughly impressed by the genius behind these cupcakes- real coffee in the batter, kit kats in the batter and on the frosting, chocolate chips in the batter and melted into the frosting.... you get the idea, go bake them now before halloween's over!

Kit Kat Mocha Cupcakes

(makes 18 regular-sized cupcakes)

Ingredients:
Batter:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
9 kit kat bars- chopped into 27 pieces
 

Frosting:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature (1.5 stick)

2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

chopped kit kat bars

Directions:

1. Preheat to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. In medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a measuring cup, combine the milk, brewed coffee and vanilla.
3. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until fluflly, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. In each cupcake liner drop three Kit Kat chopped pieces, pressing down so only one side of the square is visible. You want them to be inside the cupcake while it's cooking. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. 

5. In the mean time, make the frosting. Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time, and beat well. Finally, beat in the vanilla and melted chocolate chips.
6. Frost the cooled cupcakes. Top the frosting with chopped kit kat bars. And enjoy!

{road trippin with} the best snacks ever

Okay Oprah, I'll give it to you, you did real good this time. No I'm not a huge fan of your favorite sweaters, or shoes, or jeans. And I never watch your show. But, if this is the kind of brownies you're snacking on... then perhaps I should pay closer attention to America's Test Kitchen.

Photo courtesy of www.browneyedbaker.com

You see, I didn't even get a chance to take a photo- because we wolved all of it down too fast! This was one of the best brownies I've had- definitely competitive with the Ghiradelli mix. Or dare I say, possibly better?

On top of the brownies, we also made these. Yep, pumpkin cinnamon chip pecan chocolate chip granola bars. If you are creative like us, you would also add chocolate chips to everything you bake! They were so perfect to have around- whether as a quick snack or as breakfast with coffee.

photo courtesy of www.browneyedbaker.com

 I could really get used to road tripping with snacks like these... as a healthy substitute to McDonalds, of course.

{a shout out to} lovely roomies

pumpkin cream cheese muffins

just some cream cheese filling oozing out of the muffin

oatmeal almond chocolate chunk cookies

Hello, I have something important to say. Remember the age old question of "Is there anything better than homemade muffins and cookies in this world?" Well it has been answered and it is affirmative. How is this possible, you ask? It is by sharing the joy of such goods with your roommates!

Last Thursday, I felt a strong desire to bake homemade cookies after salivating after some girl's Mrs. Field's cookies in lecture. I was this close to buying some from Mrs. Fields until I thought about how the ones we make at home are so much better! So instead, I recruited my roommate Leah & made these oatmeal almond chocolate chunk cookies. 

Today, I came home to the smell of cinnamon & pumpkin wafting through the halls after logging 4 hours in the graduate library. Well, the source of the amazing smell was the two dozen pumpkin cream cheese muffins  awaiting on the kitchen counter- made by my other roommate Julie.

I am so spoiled/lucky to live with such fabulous girls! You guys are absolutely the best. :)

{adventures with} a fellow foodie pt 2

Butternut squash tortellinis, browned cherry walnut & sage butter sauce, side of garlic sauteed broccolinis

baked pink lady with cinnamon stuffing, vanilla bean ice cream

Homemade butternut squash tortellinis? Check. Browned cherry pecan & sage butter sauce? Check. Baked apple a la mode? Check. Amazing company to share this entire experience with? Check check check!

Sometimes I am also amazed by how fabulous my life is. Could you imagine this for a Wednesday dinner? These tortellinis are probably one of the best things I've had in a long while. And if you knew me, that means a lot because I'm not so generous with compliments.

Thanks so much Emily for the inspiration! Your blog is absolutely amazing in that it truly inspires me in all aspects of life- from fashion to cooking to interior decorating. I really could not imagine my blogging world without you!

{what's the story} morning glory? (muffins)

I woke up. I baked. I cleaned. In that order. And it's 10am! Who am I?!

These muffins are truly glorious in that they're full of good-for-you ingredients such as carrots, apples, pumpkin, oats, flaxseed, greek yogurt.... and on and on! Talk about the breakfast of champions-- muffins are truly the new health food. Since I finished the last bit of my zucchini muffins over the weekend, I knew I needed to make another batch of muffins for my upcoming week!

I used this recipe as a base but modified a lot on my own. I substituted brown sugar and maple syrup for white sugar; pumpkin for apple sauce; milk, greek yogurt, and cranberry juice instead of orange juice and canola oil. So feel free to have fun with it and add your own touch to the recipe. These muffins are definitely breakfast muffins. So if you want something a little sweeter, I think some dark chocolate chips would go really well!

In case you were curious, I did listen to the Oasis album while I made these.... duh!

{inspired by} mall trips & procrastination

Something I really miss about my high school days is Auntie Anne's at the mall. I'd justify the unhealthiness of a cinnamon sugar pretzel by...well, more walking. (or shopping) Now that I do most of my shopping online, I no longer spend entire afternoons at the mall. Today I was being awfully slow with my readings, so I decided to procrastinate by making some homemade whole wheat soft pretzels. While the recipe looks ambitious, I assure you, it is definitely not difficult. And if you liked play-doh as a child, you will love making pretzels. Also, I calculated the calories, including extra toppings & liberally dipping, each of these babies are less than 100 calories each. Yeah, I know.

Servings: 24 small pretzels (approx. 1/2 the size of the kind at the mall)

Ingredients:

Dough:

yeast- 1/4 oz (1 packet)

whole wheat flour- 3 cup

skim milk- 1 cup

lemon- 1 zested & juiced

maple syrup (I prefer grade B)- 2 tsp

greek yogurt- 3 tbs

Boiling mixture:

water- 4 cup

baking soda- 5 tbs

Toppings:

cinnamon

poppyseed

granulated sugar

coarse salt

Dip:

red wine vinegar

dijon mustard

maple syrup

sugar

Directions:

1. Heat milk until very warm, approx 60 sec on high in the microwave. Dissolve yeast in milk. Let sit for 5 min.

2. Meanwhile, zest and juice lemon, mix with greek yogurt and maple syrup.

3. Mix ingredients from step 1 and 2 with the flour. Knead until dough's formed.

4. Place dough in a large bowl coated with olive oil, cover with saran wrap. Let sit for approx. 30 min, or when dough doubles in size.

5. Break the dough into even pieces. If you want larger pretzels, feel free to make less.

6. Form the dough into pretzel shapes & place on greased cooking sheet. If you have trouble, a quick search on youtube should be helpful.

7. Preheat over to 450 degrees.

8. Bring the water/baking soda mixture to a boil.

9. One or two at a time, put the pretzel doughs in for 30 seconds. Place them back onto the cookie sheet.

10. Sprinkle liberally with your favorite topping or leave them plain. I made some poppyseed, some cinnamon sugar.

11. Bake in oven for approx. 10-12 minutes until the outside's golden brown.

12. Meanwhile, heat vinegar, maplesyrup, mustard & sugar in a pan on medium. Adjust the portions to taste. Let simmer for 5 min. 

If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible! :) Happy baking!

{inspired by} healthy breakfast & fall

Just made the healthiest and most delicious whole wheat lemon zucchini muffins ever! The zucchinis keep them moist, the flaxseeds give them texture, and the spices evoke a sense of fall. They are so easy to make and actually good for you-- imagine serving them with a big mugful of hot chai & some ingrid michaelson for breakfast. 

makes: 24 fluffy muffins

ingredients:

whole wheat flour- 3 cup

brown sugar- 3/4 cup

granulated sugar- 3/4 cup

baking soda- 2 tsp

ground cinnamon- 3 tsp

ground ginger- 2 tsp

salt- 1 tsp

egg- 1 (lightly beaten)

olive oil- 1/3 cup

maple syrup (I prefer grade B)- 1/2 cup

vanilla extract- 2 tsp

lemons- 2, zested & the juiced

zucchini- 2 cup shredded (approx 3 small ones for me)

flaxseed- 1/3 cup

Directions:

 Preheat over at 350 degrees

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients from flour to salt.

2. In a separate smaller bowl, combine all the liquids from egg to lemon juice.

3. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl. Mix well.

4. Fold in zucchini & flaxseed.

5. Fill paper-lined or greased pan 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

6. Cool and enjoy, while feeling absolutely guilt-free!