Day 210: Vintage that never gets old

Something about fall, and the back to school sales makes me want to get a new pair of sneakers. Though my school days are long gone, I get tempted every decade or so by one of my school time favorites. These Converse Chuck Taylor Shoreline kicks were on sale, and since I already have a pair of neutral tan ones, I got them in turquoise. They have enough of a pop of color to seem interesting, but pleasantly go with most of my outfits and pair well with jeans. And who doesn't like a bright clean pair of shoes at the start of a new school year?

Day 158: Jamie Oliver's Steak and Chips

I tend to watch a lot of cooking shows while I'm traveling. I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe because I don't get the Food network at home, nor do I have time to watch it! But I've stumbled across some of my favorite recipes from celebrity chefs while channel surfing in hotel rooms.

I've never tried a Jamie Oliver recipe (though I've gotten many of his cookbooks as gifts for friends.) Like most of his recipes, it's meant to be simple, economical and for the most part, healthy.  I have also never made steak before and it was super easy on a cast iron skillet.  It came out super yummy for the first time I'd ever made steak!  

Ingredients:

800 g baking potatoes
olive oil
optional:  2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 small onion
100 g button mushrooms, or whatever you can find
50 ml cream
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
400 g frozen French beans
4 cloves of garlic
500 g flank steak

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 Celsius). Halve the potatoes and slice them into wedges. Put in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, then drain and tip into roasting tray. Drizzle oil over it, adding salt and pepper per taste. Toss with rosemary leaves (if using) and roast for 40 minutes or until golden and crispy, turning over occasionally.

2.  Peel and slice the onion along with the mushroom. Put the vegetables into a medium pan on medium heat with salt and pepper to taste and a drizzle of oil. Cook for 10 minutes or until lightly golden, then add cream, mustard and a splash of water. Lower the heat and simmer, adding water if needed.  

3.  Put the frozen beans into a large frying pan on medium heat with some oil. Stir to help them defrost. Peel and slice the garlic, adding to the beans once all the liquid has evaporated. Lower the heat and cook for 5 minutes until crispy and golden.

4.  Season the steak with salt and pepper, rubbing with a little oil. Pound with a mallet to flatten and tenderize. The steak should be flat now, about 1/2" - 1" in thickness. Sear in a cast iron skillet (or hot frying pan) to a high heat. Turn every minute for 5-6 minutes for medium-rare, or until cooked to your liking. Add thyme or rosemary for last 2 minutes. Remove to a board, letting it rest for 2 minutes.  Add any resting juices to the mushroom sauce and season.  Spoon the mushroom sauce over the steak and serve with potato wedges on the side.

Source:  https://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/23043/secret-steak-and-chips-with-garlicky-green-beans

Day 126: Cinco de Mayo! Sippin' on some Virgin Margaritas!

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food. But somehow I planned a playdate on May 5th, and thought why not have a Cinco de Mayo themed playdate? Aside from sombrero related crafts, I thought my mom friends might like to kick back with some virgin Margaritas and let our kids make their own soft and hard tacos.  

Here is one of the recipes I used! I even rimmed some of my plastic Ikea cups and let the kids have a bit!

Recipe:

1 lime

2 cups orange juice

4 cups limeade

4 ounces simple syrup*  

1. In a large jug, squeeze the juice of one lime.  Set aside to use latter to rim the glasses.

2. Add the orange juice, limeade, and simple syrup.  

3. If a blended drink is desired, add orange juice mixture to a dozen ice cubes in a blender and blend on high speed until completely blended.

4. To rim glasses, take the lime halves and trace them over rims of glasses.  Spread sugar over a small plate or saucer.  Then put the glass face down in the small plate, covering the rim neatly with the sugar.

5. Pour mixture over ice in rimmed glasses, or from blender into rimmed glasses.  Sip and enjoy! 

Serves 4

* This can be easily made by adding equal parts water and sugar and heating up in a sauce pan on the stove

Day 125: Cinco de Mayo! Pico de Gallo for tacos!

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food. But I somehow planned a playdate on May 5th, and thought why not have a Cinco de Mayo themed playdate? Aside from sombrero related crafts, I thought my mom friends might like to kick back with some virgin Margaritas and let our kids make their own soft and hard tacos.  

I had store bought taco shells and tortillas, and had shredded lettuce, ground beef, cheese and this pico de gallo as another filling.  

Recipe:

3 tomatoes, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juice
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix!

2. Serve alongside tortilla chips, or as an addition to salads or tacos.

Day 124: Guacamole, Gua-Guacamole! Cinco de Mayo preparations continue...

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food. But I somehow planned a playdate on May 5th, and thought why not have a Cinco de Mayo themed playdate? Aside from sombrero related crafts, I thought my mom friends might like to kick back with some virgin margaritas and let our kids make their own soft and hard tacos.  

Here is one of the recipes I used for the guacamole. It was nice to use as a dip with tortilla chips and as a filling for the tacos!

Recipe

4 ripe avocados

1/2 lime, juice

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 medium tomato, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons cilantro

1 tsp sea salt

1.  Peel and deseed the avocado.

2.  Squeeze lime juice over it and mix.

3.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Can use the cilantro to garnish as well.

Honestly, this was the last thing on my list of things to make, and deseeding and peeling the avocado took a lot of time.  My guests were about to arrive, so I decided to use a food processor instead of doing it by hand. Though it was a little more pureed then I had hoped it to be, it was still very good!

Day 123: Mexican Fried Ice Cream

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food. But I somehow planned a playdate on May 5th, and thought why not have a Cinco de Mayo themed playdate? Aside from sombrero related crafts, I thought my mom friends might like to kick back with some virgin margaritas and let our kids make their own soft and hard tacos.  

Here is one of the recipes I used.  The trick is to work quickly, and to do about three at a time and then put them in the freezer before they melt.  

Recipe:

2 L container of vanilla ice cream

2 cups of frosted flakes cereal

1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1. Scoop out the ice cream onto wax or parchment paper.  Put in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

2. Crush the cereal by hand, and add the cinnamon.  Mix thoroughly.

3. Spread the mixture into a pan.

4. Have a small tray or tupperware box ready.  As you take the scoops of ice cream out, roll quickly and thoroughly to coat it completely with the cereal mixture.

5. Serve with honey if desired.  Serves 12.

This was a hit with the kids, and parents!

Day 105: Strawberry Petit Fours

Sometimes you need just a bite of cake!  These cute and delicious petit fours are easy to make, and with the blueberry on top gives it a burst of fruit that goes nicely with the sweet buttercream frosting.  To bake the cake you will need three square eight inch cake pans.  You can use round ones, but you may have excess edges that you can use to make cake pops or enjoy on your own.  The cake is from food.com's recipe for Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Birthday cake.    I like this recipe versus other vanilla cake recipes because it is super simple and I have most of the ingredients at home.  Even though the original recipe calls for self-rising flour and all purpose flour, I simplified that by adding the baking powder and salt to regular all purpose flour.  They are a wonderful treat for a bridal shower or baby shower this Spring!

To make the cake:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

blueberries (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease and lightly flour three square 8 inch cake pans (or one large cake pan), then line the bottoms with waxed paper.

2.  With an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar gradually until fluffy.

3.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  

1. 4.  Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Add to the wet mixture, alternating in four cycles with the milk and vanilla.  Beat well after each addition.  
2. 5.  Divide the batter among the cake pans.

6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire racks.

Strawberry buttercream frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioner's sugar

8-10 strawberries

1.  Rinse and dry the strawberries.  Cut off the stems.  Puree them in a food processor or blender.

2.  In an electric mixer, cream the butter.  Add the confectioner's sugar, mix well.

3.  Add the strawberry mix.  Due to excess water from the strawberries, you may need to add more confectioner's sugar to improve consistency.  It should be soft, but not runny.

Once the cakes are completely cool, you can adde the frosting.  To make the petit fours, cut the cake into 1" - 1.5" cubes.  You make need to trim the edges off to get a nice clean edge.  Add one blueberry to the top for decoration. 

Yields 70 petit fours.