Pesto Galore!

Not quite sure when or how it became October, but it is, and so I've been packing in outdoor activities to my schedule like its nobody's business.  Its getting colder everyday and I'm suddenly flash-backing to my winter days hiking up the hill to class at UVM, and I'm remembering how goddamn miserable it was to be unable to feel my toes after I left the house.  So before the first freeze, my pesto-inspired mom and I sat down to make a huge huge huge batch of pesto (from our very own basil plants in the backyard)!

We started by pulling all the leaves off of the plants. This was by far the most time consuming part of the entire project. I have never seen so much basil in my entire life.

Our ingredient list was really simple, because in my opinion, classic pesto is the BEST. No need to jazz it up with weird ingredients, just have good ol' comfort food. 

Our machine of choice was this food processor straight out of the 80s (sorry mom).  It did its job, but good god, it is old as dirt.

Final result: 15 cups of pesto! Holy SH*T! No clue what to even do with it all. We'll have at least a year supply in the freezer, and there is more basil to be picked outside too. Its overwhelming, but at least its totally delicious.

Here is the recipe we used (and keep in mind, this is for about 1.5 cups of pesto, NOT 15!)

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Blend the first three ingredients
2. Add the basil and blend again
3. Mix in the cheese & pepper
4. ENJOY!

My first creation was just some basic tortellini with veggies and pesto: Ta-da!

Ciao!

I'm back! After a far-too-long break, I've finally found my way home to the world of cooking, drinking, and writing about it.  Yes, I've been making plenty of time for drinking, but working has been getting in the way of everything else. I've even resorted to buying massive amounts of $1 scratch tickets in hopes of winning the big bucks. I realize this is counterproductive though, because I haven't won a thing and am just spending more money... A girl can dream, right?

So, after a string of losing scratch tickets, drunken nights out, wasted sunny days, and dreams about doing fun things, I'm turning a new leaf.  Its time to start opening up to everything thats out there.  The amount of cool shit there is to do and the amount of time that I have to do it doesn't quite match up, so I need to not let any more opportunities pass me by. By the way, I feel like this would have been an excerpt from my graduation speech (had I been valedictorian).  

In coming to this fun-stuff realization, the most logical thing I could think to do was pop some champagne. I took it one step further by making the champagne into sangria and serving it up with super fancy bruschetta.  

Here are my recipes:

Peach-Vanilla Champagne Sangria:

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe peaches
• 1 cup of pre-sliced peaches in sugar syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 bottles champagne

Directions:

1. Blend the first four ingredients until pureed
2. Get rid of any of the big chunks left from the peaches (I strained mine)
3. For each champagne flute, add about 2 tablespoons of peach mixture
4. DRINK UP!

Peach Tomato Bruschetta:

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe peaches- diced
• 2 ripe tomatoes- diced
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves- chopped up
• 1/2 red onion- diced
• 1/2 tsp salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 fresh baguette- sliced and toasted with olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix up everything but the bread and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Top the toasted baguette with the peach-tomato blend.
3. EAT!

The final (and most important) step: Sip sangria while delicately eating the bruschetta and achieve complete classiness! Congrats on being fancy! And cheers to livin' up the rest of 2012!

Voodoo Juice

And so it has been dubbed: voodoo juice.

Quote of the afternoon: "Holy shnikers! That sh*t is dangerous!"

Finally got around putting my jalapeño infused tequila to use, and god dammit, it was a great decision!  Really spicy, but delicious.  Totally worth the (several) days of not being able to take my contacts out or touch my face without searing my skin.

Mango-Jalapeño Margaritas:

• Jalapeño infused tequila (from my last post)
• Agave nectar
• Roses Lime Juice
• Cointreau
• Mango (pureed)
• Sliced lime
• Sugar

My recipe was roughly:

1. 2 parts tequila, 2 parts cointreau, 2 parts lime juice, 1 part agave, 1 part mango
2. Shake vigorously with ice
3. Rim glasses with sugar (use lime juice to make it stick)- the sugar is your BFF when your mouth is on fire
4. Pour into glasses with ice
5. ENJOY

Beware: they are really spicy. We tried doing shooters, and it was pretty overwhelming. I would advise mixing with the margarita makings, not taking straight shots of the infused tequila.  

Black tea infused vodka recipes to come!

Cheers!

Rainy Day Booze

Happy Wednesday! 

Was feeling like I needed to forget about some questionable decisions made, and what is a better route than booze? Alcohol is always there for me, is perfect in almost any situation and it can't say no to me (I realize that sounds creepy, but just go with it).  I was trying to take a creative route, so rather than just drinking straight liquor, I experimented with infusions! I still want to try some fruity infusions, but for the time being, I've got black tea infused vodka (booze-y arnold palmers?) and jalapeño infused tequila (mango-jalapeño margaritas?).  I did small batches because I would most likely cry if one was deemed undrinkable and I had used an entire handle of booze in the making.

So, the jalapeño one had:

• A little less than a quart of silver tequila (I used Milagro)
• About 8 jalapeños- cut into rounds and most of the seeds removed

Very important word of advice on making the jalapeño tequila: WEAR GLOVES! Holy crap, I made this yesterday (and am typing it up today... almost 24 hours later...) and I'm still dying.  Just breathing all of it in made my nose and mouth burn, touched my lips once and they were on fire for hours, I couldn't take my contacts out, and every time I scratched my face at the bar last night, it left bright red marks (not as good of a creepy guy deterrent as I had hoped).  At the gym this morning, my hands were stinging while lifting weights. I feel like a mess. With any luck, my 2nd shower and 100th hand washing since yesterday will finally do the trick.  

Shout out to El Gato in Burlington, Vt: I applaud your ability to fill a 5 gallon jug with diced jalapeños for your infusion. You are brave brave people.

As for the less dangerous of the two infusions, I used:

• A little less than a quart of vodka (I used Absolut)
• 2 teabags of black tea (mine had pomegranate too)
• 2 bags of chinese black tea (a gift from some of my dad's coworkers, woohoo!)

Since I'm a first-timer with making infusions, I've been following the "shake every time you open the fridge" rule.  Due to my addiction to seltzer and love of refrigerated foods, I've been shaking them a lottt during the day.  Thinking I'll drink them at some point this weekend.  I'll make sure to give an update on whether or not they're delicious (which most likely, they will be, I'm feeling pretty confident).

Look at them! Getting cozy with some iced coffee and some... more iced coffee! I realize that the tea vodka looks like its full of worms or mulch or something, but I swear it smells tasty and very tea-like.

In other news, the job chaos begins today.  Between skating, morning training at the gym, working at a restaurant, and picking up a night at a bar, my social life might be on the back burner for a little while.  But more money means I can afford more fun! And food for the blog! And hopefully some travel too.  Updates on the way.

Cheers!

Not Actually Related to Blueberries

So, this post doesn't have anything to do with blueberries, but they seemed to fit the bill for my mood.  Not completely sure of what I mean by that? Something along the lines of being content but not quite satisfied. I feel like this line is one that too many of us dance upon: being content with dissatisfaction.  I find myself listening to a lot of people complain or grumble about their lives, which I don't mind because I like to help people out, but I also loathe because I wish I had the power to make them move on.

Aaand here is where I find myself feeling dissatisfied.  

I feel like I'm constantly playing it safe, being a people pleaser, talking myself out of things, making up excuses for other people, and the list goes on.  It's exhausting! So much valuable energy is being wasted on unproductive tasks.  On paper it seems really simple to just readjust how I spend my time, and then ta-da! I'm more satisfied.  In the real world, it feels a lot harder.  What am I supposed to do when so-and-so lists off another reason and apology for why they blew me off again? Yell at them, move on, forget them? It just doesn't feel like something I would do, but then again, I'm trying to move towards a better self, right?  

Sorry to get so heavy, I'm just trying to figure it all out.  Making sense of the world has turned into such a daunting task.  Some days I feel like its easier to play dumb and act like everything is completely comprehendible and logical, even though thats definitely not the case.

Jumping back to a year ago, I was living in Barcelona with a group of 43 strangers.  I found myself the most content and satisfied I've ever been.  There was no point in making excuses for people, because there was no history between (almost) any of us.  There was no time to make excuses, because days flew by.  I constantly find myself wanting to relive this experience, and not only the location (unbeatable) or the people (definitely unbeatable), but the sensation.  The freedom to do and say what you want without repercussions.  Maybe there is just an illusion of consequence back home, but it feels so much more real than it did 3,600 miles away in Europe.

In all, the point of this rambling is that I need to surround myself with new/positive people.  I was somewhat inspired to come to this conclusion by a friend from Spain who had a similar realization.  I miss not only the people from my summer abroad, but the almost instant depth that was created in the friendships.  No one was in Barcelona to complain, be sad, or talk behind each other's backs (and if they were, I was too enamored by Spain to notice).   They were all there to have a good time with other good people, and we (I believe) wanted the best for each other.  I would apologize for being super sappy, but I've decided to not do that anymore.  While I'm worried that people reading this will be thinking about how corny I am, or how glummy this post sounds, I also take comfort in that the people making fun of this post are people I don't want to spend time with anyways.

So, cheers to finding satisfaction and being happy!

p.s. if you haven't been to Spain, make time to go, you won't regret it (even if you're robbed of two wallets, a cell phone, a pair of glasses... and your dignity once or twice).

Rooftop overlooking Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Espana

View after climbing a hill/mountain in Begur, Espana

Happy Pappy Day!

So, I know this post is a few days late, but life has been a little hectic. Better late than never (just like better drunk than sober… too much?).  I couldn’t ignore doing this post, its my dad!  The most caring, thoughtful, hardworking guy I know (aww).  Part of my gift to him was copious amounts of food.  Including, but definitely not limited to: cape cod chips and cabot french onion dip (our favorite snack), a big-veggie-loaded salad, 5 dozen (oops) chocolate chip cookies and caprese sandwiches.  These sandwiches are my new obsession.  Correction: anything that includes tomato and mozzarella is my new obsession (seeing as my last post had a tomato/mozz/pesto pizza…).  So good! So refreshing! Perfect for father’s day lunch at the lake.  

Here’s a picture to convince you of the deliciousness:

Oh my god, I need to make these for lunch again. Maybe today… Tomato, mozzarella, pesto, salt & pepper sandwiched between two thick slices of wheat bread. Toasted up in a pan with some butter, left in the oven for a few to let the cheese melt. Its almost a sexual experience eating these. But its not, because it was father’s day, and that would be weird… 

Moving on, here’s the happy dad himself (pre-eating)!

Aaand post eating:

Stuffed! Job well done.

For an update on reducing my awkwardness, my plan has been working! Doing and saying what I’m feeling has actually made me happier (should’ve been able to figure this one out a looong time ago), less stressed, and lowered my number of awkward encounters.  Hallelujah! Told you I wasn’t awkward all the time.  

Figured I deserved a reward for trying to better myself:

Be jealous!

Awkward-Free Pizza on the Grill!

So, all of this “come home and be healthy” talk didn’t end up sticking… The bender doesn’t seem to end! Too tempting to drink and stay up late every night. Not working all that often right now isn’t helping either.  STILL unpacking from Burlington too, gahh it never ends!  Enough complaining though, regardless of how satisfying it seems.

I’ve been finding myself (surprise surprise) in a slew of awkward experiences lately.  I won’t go into details, because rehashing them will probably make me crawl out of my own skin, but, you get the idea. Therefore, I’m determined to get out of my awkward funk, no matter what it takes.  I vow to speak my mind, try new things, and not let long pauses feel like fingernails on a chalkboard.  I’ll let you know how it goes…

On a non-awkward note, I finally got back on the cooking bandwagon, and it was a WONDERFUL idea.  Made pizzas on the grill last night and they were unbelievably delicious.  Here’s my dough recipe, but you might have to alter it depending on how thick you want the crust to be (don’t go tooooo thin, it will fall through the grates on the grill…):

• 3 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1.5 cups warm water
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 3-3.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal

1. Mix yeast, salt, honey, and warm water
2. Add olive oil and 1.5 cups of the flour, MIX
3. Add the rest of the flour and the cornmeal, adjusting the amount to get a pretty thick mixture
4. Put the dough into a bowl (sprayed with cooking spray) and let rise for 2 hours.  This can be sped up if you turn the oven on, turn it off, and then let the dough sit in the warm oven (only 45 min rise time).
5. Once risen, split into 2 balls and roll each out onto a floured (plus some cornmeal) cookie sheet
6. Add toppings of choice (mine are below)
7. Place on grill (still on cookie sheet).  Leave on for 5-10 minutes (until edges have cooked up) then slide directly onto grill until edges have browned.
8. ENJOY!

Here are my pizza choices (with pictures):

First up: olive oil & pesto base with tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil (grown by my talented mother!) on top. 

Here is the before picture…

And here is the during/after!

Second: olive oil & diced tomato base with garlic, portobello (cooked first), grape tomatoes, spinach, black olives, feta cheese, and shredded fancy blend (cheddar and mozz? super fancy!) on top

Before…

During/After!

I tried to take AFTER pictures, but we ate it too fast. Seriously, lots of pizza, REALLY fast.

Oh well, at least I got an action shot!

See, I’m not always awkward.

Happy eating!

Mojito Time!

It’s the best day ever! Emily showed up with rum and made delicious mojitos.  I guess there are some perks to having a bartender for a sister… Maybe a lot of perks, like, drinking-is-acceptable-any-time-of-day perks.  I can’t complain.  

She makes a pretty basic mojito, which is exactly how I feel they should be made… Each mojito has…

• 2 shots rum (or more!)
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Big handful fresh mint leaves (muddled with lime)
• 1/2 tsp sugar (or less)
• A few splashes Sprite

1. Combine first 4 ingredients (AND ICE!) in shaker (make sure to muddle mint and lime first)
2. Pour everything in a glass
3. Put some Sprite in shaker to get rest of lime out, then pour into glass
4. DRINK!

After photographing the delicious mojitos, Stella (One of 4 cats…) decided to pose for a photo shoot.  Lovin’ the seductive poses:

Even Olivia got in on the photo shoot:

Hope you’re all enjoying this gorgeous weather, I know I am (which isn’t hard with a mojito in hand and cute cats everywhere)

FYI: I don’t plan on becoming a crazy cat lady (yet).

Happy Guaca-Memorial Day!

Pardon the corny title, but I couldn’t resist, it’s Memorial Day Weekend! I love holidays like this one because the only thing that I’m expected to do is eat, drink, and find somewhere to float.  I can check off the eating and drinking (a few times), but I still haven’t gotten my float on.  I think that today is the day! I meant to make guacamole yesterday, but my Saturday shenanigans got in the way of that plan.  I spent the day unpacking (STILL), driving (with no help from my GPS), and celebrating another graduation!  About 50 cute baby pictures later, I decided to venture to our camp and pass out for a good 12 hours.  Woke up today inspired to make some guac, and I would like to pat myself on the back for a job well done.  If my sole purpose in life was to make guacamole, I would die a happy well-fed woman.  Well, before I move on to floating, I’ll let you in on my recipe…

First, get the usual suspects out:

Ingredients:

• 2 avocados
• 2 tomatoes
• Juice of 2 limes
• Some chopped up onion (I usually use about a half)
• 2-3 chopped up garlic cloves (if you’re a garlic lover, add more, go crazy)
• 1-2 diced up jalapeños (I just used 1 because it was huuge)

*You’ll probably want a little bit of salt and pepper too

Mix it all up:

Then, let it sit for a little while (teasing you with it’s deliciousness)

Finally, and most importantly, eat it!

Try your hardest to share with friends.  It makes a lot of guac!

On that note, it’s time for me to float (with some chips, guacamole, and cocktails in tote).  Hope you’re all having a great holiday! 

Look at how Talented I am!

Just got home from Vermont yesterday… Had a fleeting thought that I could go raw for a week (HA!).  It lasted about an hour, and resulted in me giving in to my grumbling stomach.  FYI: an apple for breakfast should be considered a cruel punishment! I need eggs! and toast! and coffee! Obviously…  Well, despite the inability to go raw for the majority of my day, I went semi-raw for dinner.  Was feeling Greek (no clue why) and decided that I NEEDED to make a Greek salad.  Wish I could give you the exact measurements of everything I added to the mix, but I was feeling like a chef at the time (A.K.A. randomly tossing things into a bowl with a big/evil grin on my face).  Anywho, heres the recipe, or, the parts of the recipe I can remember from my semi-drunken, chef-obsessed state.

Greek Salad

• 1 can chick-peas
• 1 little can of sliced black olives
• 1 cucumber- peeled & chopped
• Half-ish can seasoned artichoke hearts- chopped
• Handful grape tomatoes- cut in half
• Handful baby spinach- chopped
• 1/4 red onion- chopped
• Feta (as much as you want… I added about half a tub)
• 1 clove garlic- diced up
• Half of a lemon- all juiced up (add some zest if you’re feeling zesty!)
• Black pepper- to taste (I added A LOT)
• Roughly 1/4 cup dressing (I used Ken’s Balsamic with Honey because it’s so damn delicious)

Combine everything and let the flavors marinate for an hour or two in the fridge.  Or just eat as is (no one would judge, it’s delicious). Makes 4 big servings, or 2 really really big servings, so choose who you share with wisely. Finally, ENJOY!

Time to eat! I’m thinking one big serving (for me). Ha! No shame!

P.S. Credit for the photo has to go to mom for this one, I’m still learnin’! Thanks mom, you da best roomie! 

P.P.S. My dad just said “golly-day” in reference to the food we’re eating for dinner. Think it’s a sign we’ve done well?

P.P.P.S. We really liked it…

What Now?

Okay, so, graduation happened.  It was teary, emotional, sweaty, and a serious reality check.  I’m supposed to do things with my life now! Make grown up decisions, find a real job, start saving money!  In an effort to (continue to) avoid this realization, I drank a LOT, procrastinated on packing up my little apartment, and ate solely take-out.  Seemed like a healthy way to distract myself (at the time)…

Now that I’ve come to the end of this absurdly long bender, I’m craving healthy food, good sleep, and new adventures.  Though these adventures may take place with my parent’s house as the home base, I’m excited.  Mom and pops are great roomies! They have free parking, a washer & dryer, and a yard; all the things that I missed while living in good ol’ Vermont.  Plus, they’re pretty great company.

I’m thinking that this summer will be prime time to actually get to the nitty gritty of planning for all of these adventures I’ve been ranting about.  I don’t want to settle in one place for too long.  Too many places to see, people to meet, pictures to take and food to eat to stay put in one place!  The nitty gritty mostly involves money, which was to be expected, but I’ve heard being risky and creative will get you the farthest.  Not eat-from-trash-cans risky, but more like explore-without-a-set-plan risky. The risky moves might be hard, because I’ve always been such a planner, but the creative part is what I’m excited for. As I come up with new ways to travel for cheap, I’ll be sure to keep track and share. 

Next post will most likely be after the journey back to New Hampshire, and it will (hopefully) include some good eats or healthy treats.

I've Arrived!

With graduation less than a week away, I figured it was time to do something productive… Like start a cooking/confession blog?  With no job lined up and my only big plans including moving back in with the ‘rents, starting a blog to chronicle my cooking feats and post-college escapades seemed appropriate.  

Welp, I’m hoping that I’ll be posting exquisite recipes and fancy plans, but it will probably be something more along the lines of kinda-good tasting food and semi-exciting stories. I’ll take it.  Hey, I can’t afford to be picky (literally can’t afford it, my wallet never has more than $7 in ones).  

Anyway, wish me luck! Hope you enjoy!