Lemon on My Mind

Sadly all things sunny are starting to fade with the end of the summer, I have been obsessed with all things flavored lemon! Lemon bars, lemon ices, lemon fashion :-), lemon scents! It's a fresh twist especially for desserts that makes tasty treats not unbearably sweet! This obsession is definitely reminiscent of my temporary love with grapefruit . . .

                          

Love love Lily!!

Kim in a Klassy all white outfit with a pop of lemon

And lastly my take on the lemon color and flavor

Color, Color, Color

Homemade Lemon Bars mmmmm

Recipe for Lemon Bars

adapted from Rita May's Blog

3/4 C flour

3/4 C sugar

1/4 t salt

1 stick butter, soft

2 eggs

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1T)

zest from 1/2 lemon (about 1t)

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix in the softened butter. In another bowl whisk the eggs with the lemon juice and zest. Add the lemon zest and eggs to the larger bowl and mix well. Pour into prepared 8X8 brownie pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. You can double the recipe and bake in a 9X13 pan for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool, then glaze.

Glaze 

1/2C powdered sugar

1 T lemon juice

additional lemon zest

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The Prettiest Eggs You'll Evah See

Deviled eggs are popular in my house. 

              

         Really popular. Like fly off the table as soon as I set it down popular. 

They are a pretty standard dish so when I hosted a grad party for my mother I thought "let's serve it with a twist - a pretty twist." I'm a sucker for presentation and pretty food especially pretty food that tastes good so when I found this version on Cupcakes and Cashmere I was like der! 

For all you crunchies out there no worries these eggs are 

colored from beets not - gasp - artificial coloring :-)

Recipe:
Inspired by CupcakesandCashmere and Source Here

Heads up for this Recipe there is sugar in the pickling mixture if you don't want your eggs to have a slightly sweet taste ditch the sugar or make the eggs a little but spicer ;-)

3 cups water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 small beet, peeled and sliced
1 small shallot, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
12 hard-boiled large eggs, peeled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 teaspoon Hot Sauce
Sweet Paprika, to taste (I used chives)

Directions:
Bring water, vinegar, beet, shallot, sugar, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then simmer, covered, until beet is tender, about 20 minutes. Cool completely, uncovered. Put beet mixture in a container with eggs and marinate, chilled, gently stirring once or twice, for 2-6 hours.

Remove eggs from beet mixture and pat dry (discard beet mixture). Cut in half lengthwise and remove yolks. Mash yolks with mayonnaise, mustard, and Siracha sauce. Season with salt and pepper, then divide among egg whites and sprinkle with paprika.

Luscious Moist Chocolate Double Layer Cake

I found the most delicious chocolate cake recipe on the Foodess blog. I baked it we ate it we loved it. I didn't love the after taste it had though,  just like other chocolate cakes it left a dry kinda of taste in my mouth. Then at Thanksgiving dinner Shifra, one of the other guests, made a chocolate cake that was not only just as delicious but no weird dry after taste! Shifra's was moist and tasty and fluffy and yummy and juuuuust right. So of course I HAD to get the recipe from her and recreate it! Thanks Shifra!

Classic Lush Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup cocoa

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

½ cup oil

1 cup milk or milk substitute 

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup boiling water

Combine all dry ingredients. Add everything else except the boiling water. Mix well and then add boiling water. Pour in a greased pan and bake on 350 for about 40-45 minutes. I baked it into (2) 9 inch cake pans.

Chocolate Frosting from the Barefoot Contessa 

6 oz. the best quality of semisweet chocolate possible

2 sticks of butter (or margrine) at room temperature

1 extra large egg yolk at room temperature (or use egg white powder)

1  tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon of instant coffee powder - I used Starbucks ground to Turkish

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating. Turn the mixture on low and gradually add the confectioners' sugar then on medium until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the Turkish ground coffee or instant coffee in teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On a low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake(s.) If you refrigerate the frosting it will get hard, just microwave it in 5-10 second increments until its a spreadable texture.

It tasted as good as it looks!

The Last Chummus / Hummus Recipe You'll Ever Make

I love love love chummus.

I can't help but to add a "c" in beginning making it sounds like the "ch" in Chanukah.  

What's not to love, I dip veggies in it, use it as a spread instead of mayo and the best part is it's healthy and packed with protein! Every time I eat out I make sure chummus is on the menu (refer to my Yelp page  for some awesome local recommendations.) Then I did what everyone does. I assumed I could do it better! I tried out a couple recipes and they were either not tasty, not smooth enough, and just not that special. I finally found the perfect combination of flavor, texture, and spreadablity - I made a few adjustments but the recipe is adapted from the Barefoot Contessa 

 

The Last Chummus / Hummus Recipe You'll Ever Make

•  
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved**
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 3 tablespoons of liquid from the chickpeas
• 8 dashes hot sauce

Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature.

** I used dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, cooked for at least half an hour and used the boiled liquid instead of preservative filled liquid in the canned chickpeas. Not suggested for last minute rush. 

 

Let me know how your batch came out! Is the best you'll ever have? If not do you have any suggestions?
Leave a comment below!

Baby/NYC/Spinach Cheese Bites

Last Wednesday my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She will be naming him at the bris milah ceremony this coming Wednesday.

Soooo I will be hopping on a megabus with my handy dandy kindle and visiting a little place some people like to call New York City for the weekend to go meet this widdle cutie patootie.

I swear I will not make this fashionable tasty travel blog into a my-baby-is-cuter-than-yours blog. But since I am sure you are curious here is a picture to appease you :-).

C'mon how cute is this tiny whiny little teensy tinsy little guy

Are you hungry?

        Lazy?

            In love with cheese?

                Like to pretend to be healthy?

                    Could use some fiber in your life?


Well if you answered yes to any of these questions (you'd have to be not breathing to answer no) do I have the perfect recipe for you *exaggerated wink*

Spinach Cheese Bites

All mixed up and ready to be rolled

Plucked fresh from the ground and frozen in little cubes waiting for your use

Can be purchased at Trader Joe's and most grocery stores

Can you resist?

Spinach Cheese Bites:

1 cube of Garlic
2 cubes of Basil
1 pkg of frozen spinach
1/2 c. ricotta cheese (could use skim or low fat)
1 c. mozzarella cheese
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 pkg of puff pastry sheets (NOT shells - my husband once brought these home for me and it did NOT work for my intended purposes lol)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a pan with Pam
3.  Defrost spinach in microwave or if you are a microwave hater in the oven for a couple minutes
4. Squish the liquid from spinach
5. Mix spinach and remaining ingredients in a large bowl
6. Cut puff pastry sheet into three, then cut each strip into thirds and cut the thirds into triangles
7. Roll spinach & cheese mixture into small balls, place in triangle and wrap the dough around it
8. Whip egg and brush balls
9. Pop those babies into the oven and wait 25 min and check on them after that regularly
10. Remove and let cool and do your best not to inhale them all at once

Enjoy!


Oooo I almost forgot! Prelude to my next post . . . . . .

  

S'more for me if you don't want ;-)

You hungry and want a quick sugary pick me up - you guessed it my health crazy is over - then you have come to the right place! While trolling the internets this time pinterest I came across the yummiest lil lookin thing:

Source: theaprongal.com via Mouss on Pinterest

 I clicked on the pin which took me here. so i went on my merry way to make it ASAP! Granted my camera doesn't take as high quality images as hers but thats for you to decide ;-)  

obviously decide in my favor!!!

Baked S'mores
recipe courtesy Baked Perfection


Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla 
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt (optional) 
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 5 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
2 or 3 super-sized (5 oz.) chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (or mini marshmallows if you must!) 


Directions


Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of  pan. 

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.

Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. 

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly [for 8 by 8] side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer. [use 3 Hershey's for 12 by 8 pan]

I used an 11x9 pan - of course you can rely on me to pick the one pan size she didn't give an example of

Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the creme. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms or rolling pin to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up and carefully spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely or almost completely for the melty factor before cutting into bars. 

YUUUUUUM! This was delish!!!!!

Smoooooothie Obsession

Along with my temporary health craze I have gone bonkers for smoothies!

I was originally inspired by this photo from   so I found the easiest recipe and posted it below for your convenience :-)

They are so simple to make, are a quick pick me up, and way cheaper to make at home! The fruit can be pricey but 1 bag of pineapple tidbits serves at least 4 smoothies!

Personalize Your Smoothie Recipe:

1 c. frozen mixed berries (or pineapple)
1 c. ice
1 c. yogurt
1 packet of fiber - I'm not a veggie kinda girl so pack in some xtra punches where ever I can
2 tsp. of honey


Blend it all together ASAP so you can enjoy your scrumptious treat!

                         

Fancy EASY Mac & Cheese Muffins

Me and half of the rest of the world LOOOOOOOOOOVES pasta. Who cares what shape it's in?! But it's fun to try something different with an old love. I copied this recipe from my favorite recipe website www.allrecipes.com (besides for the holy grail of Martha Stewart) and tried it out.

For those of you who are like me and lazy I copied the recipe out here:

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons olive oil - We splurged and use truffle oil and it made SUCH a difference
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, olive oil and salt; set aside. 
• 
  
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, it should still be a little bit firm. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan; stir in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese and stir the remaining Cheddar cheese, milk and mozzarella cheese into the pasta. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and the bread crumb mixture over the tops. 
• 
  
• Sprinkle basil and sea/kosher salt for an extra flavor boost
• 
  
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is nicely browned. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will allow the cheese to set and they will hold their muffin shape. 
•  
• We waited for about ten minutes to let it cool so it was really set in its shape and just  reheated it in the microwave for a couple seconds

Inspiring Arms and Valentine's Day

Quick fashion moment before I get all gushy and romantic about my Vday plans from this year.

Please put your hands together for one the most beautiful women in the world Freida Pinto. Some people have thinspirations (or is that just something from Sh*t Fashion Girls Say?!) but I have power in shape-spirations. I believe in healthy beautiful. While Freida borders on very slim her arms are all power. I want!

Here is to healthy in shape arms! Cross your fingers for me that I keep up my gym/yoga routine to accomplish these arms!

Valentine's Day:

      I never really cared about Valentine's Day until I had my own Valentine. It just seemed like an extraneous holiday that has no purpose. Vday took on a whole new meaning when I met my lover. It became a day for us to recognize the wonderfulness of each other. 

 This year although we didn't have a do anything too formal cause Gary had a huge presentation the next day for work but we still took the time to have a romantic dinner :-) and he gave me a BEAUTIFUL present (besides for his love).

   

Pretty present from my lover
David Yurman from Orr's Jewelers 

The stereotype about doctors and chick scratch . . . . . .  so true

Heaven Lover's Caramel Chocolate Mousse Pie from Sweet Tammy's

Simple Healthy Light Dinner
Baked Salmon, Twice Baked Potato, Celery Sticks, Rhodes Rolls

Cheesy yumminess of Twice Baked Potato