Weekend recap

Had such a busy, fun-filled weekend! Started with a concert on Friday night: Cults, who I had never heard of before that day. I wasn't so sure about going because the roommate who invited me has very hipster taste and we generally vary in music. The concert as free though (she works for a radio station and had a free +1) and I didn't have anything else going on so I went!

I'm really glad I did go, it was really fun! They were an entertaining band whose music I did end up enjoying (in a fun, hipster way) and the light show that accompanied them was fun too. Plus, they played at a cool theater in Boulder that I hadn't been to, so I'm glad I had this chance!

The next day, another roommate was performing at a dance recital with and for the Boulder Expand Program that benefits adults with physical and mental disabilities. We went to support her and Expand, and the performance was super adorable, and free too!

After a yummy Panera lunch, Lollicup dessert, and shopping trip, we stopped by CU's International Festival. We were dubious about staying when we saw how ridiculously long the line was, but that was an accurate indicator of how fantastic the event would be. There were 29 countries represented (including Colombia!) and each one had a booth with a sample of a food from the country (prepared by catering staff). I cannot explain how literally incredible all of the food was. Although there was a significant amount of food with meat and/or nuts, there was plenty that I could enjoy, and enjoy I did! We left stuffed and overjoyed, trying to place all of the different flavors in our mouths. In case you are looking for some fun, foreign recipes they can be found here.



Finished off the night with the boyfriend watching Tintin (finally!), which I loved. I was super impressed by the animation too, it was so realistic! We munched on gummy candies and chocolate chip cookies, and enjoyed a relaxing night in.

Although today has been uneventful (homework, meeting on campus, more homework), I've got plenty of fun memories from this weekend to look back on :)

Gourmet pizza

So this gourmet pizza recipe is from over Spring Break and I forgot to post it, but it's absolutely delicious and definitely worth sharing!

My Mama and I sauteed zucchini, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, and asparagus with red wine.

We had found some purple asparagus that neither of us was familiar with so we decided to give it a try. As you can see in the photo above, it eventually just turned the color of regular green asparagus (though the flavor was slightly sweeter and lighter).

We used a pre-made pizza dough (we cheated!) but it was really good and we were too hungry to wait.

We rolled it out and added our sauteed toppings.

Close-up of all of the yummy toppings!

The best part of the flavor came from the cheese we put on top, fontina and fresh parmesan!

Then we cooked it at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes.

Ohmygosh so yummy! Ah can't wait to make it again!

Happy Easter!

Had a great Easter, drove down from Boulder to see the family and family friends for a few hours.

{dress: INC (Macy's), jacket: Forever21 (Forever 21), shoes: Buffalo London (Germany)}

I got to wear my pretty new dress...

...and I gorged myself on the fruit and margarita dip (recipe here, plus orange zest) that my Mama made. 

Now the weekend's almost over and it's back to reality, but at least I still have a little Easter candy left over :)

Key lime pie

Mmmmmm... My Mama and I attempted a key lime pie for the first time ever. This was my first time making a pie and my Mama hasn't had very much experience with this so it was kind of just a free for all. We loosely followed the recipe found here, but we messed up some of the steps and this may have been the cause of our issues with this pie.

We didn't have the total amount of graham crackers needed for the crust so we just used about 1/2 a pound of graham crackers and thus used a little less melted butter as well. This worked well for the size of pan we were using, which must have been smaller than the one used for the original recipe.

 

Once we baked the crust (which didn't actually hold together...) we poured in the key-limey goodness which also didn't really stay together when baked. We did add the ingredients in the wrong order though...

Basically we made really delicious granola and covered it with really delicious pudding.

In the end we just decorated it nicely, scooped it out of the pan and enjoyed it for the taste, not the texture (which was fine if you just pretended you made pudding on top of granola).

We also filled little ramicans with a layer of the crust and a layer of the key lime mixture.

In the future I think we will try other recipes and maybe try this one again, since we are clearly pie novices!

(Salted) Caramel

Probably my mother's and my proudest moment of Christmas baking was succeeding in making caramel and salted caramel. We got the recipe here.

The recipe is as follows:

Vegetable oil

1½ cups sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling (we used sea salt instead)

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Line an 8"x8" pan with parchment paper and brush on oil.

Combine the water, sugar, corn syrup, and unsalted butter.

In a deep pot, heat the mixture on medium-high.

Boil the mixture until it turns to a golden brown and swirl it, don't stir. While you are waiting, start the next step.

In a separate, smaller pot, combine the cream, butter, and 1 tbsp fleur de sel (or sea salt). Simmer over medium heat, then set aside.

When the sugar mixture has turned golden brown, pour the cream mixture into it carefully (it will bubble up). Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon.

Boil for about ten minutes, or until it has reached 248 degrees (firm ball) measured on a candy thermometer.

Pour the mixture into the lined 8"x8" pan.

Sprinkle fleur de sel or sea salt on top (we only did half because my mother isn't a fan of salted caramel).

Refrigerate overnight then let sit at room temperature to facilitate easier cutting.

Yum!

Quinoa-stuffed peppers

Made quinoa-stuffed peppers for dinner tonight! I got the recipe from a creative roommate. They are yummy, easy, and super healthy.

I started by slicing a pepper in half and removing the center and the seeds.

I had cooked some quinoa and added some diced tomatoes from a can I had in the pantry, and salt and pepper.

I spooned the quinoa mix into the center of the peppers.

Finally, I added some cheddar cheese slices to the top of the stuffed peppers and baked them at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese was melted.

Yum!

Cinnamon banana bites

In the mood for some late-night comfort food, I got a bit creative and made cinnamon banana bites! I've been making banana cinnamon pancakes for a while, and these are basically just mini, bite-sized versions of them.

 First I sliced a banana, slightly at an angle just cause I think it's more fun.

Then I added some cinnamon to pancake batter (I cheated and used the "Just add water!" kind). I LOVE cinnamon so I added a lot, if you try this then just do it to taste.

I submerged the banana slices in the cinnamon-y batter and transferred them to a buttered pan.

I cooked them on medium until slightly browned, then flipped them and cooked the other side. Essentially the same as cooking a pancake except it took slightly less time as they are smaller.

Finished, super yummy! Probably best served with syrup. In the future I'd like to try plain pancake batter with chocolate chips, or dipping the final product in melted chocolate.

Rice pudding

Had a break in the middle of my day, which I used to make a batch of rice pudding! After a bit of web surfing, I ended up creating my own compilation recipe. Here's how I made my rice pudding:

2 1/2 cups of lowfat milk

1/3 cup of uncooked rice

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup golden raisins

I combined the milk, rice, and salt in a pot on low until the rice was tender (about 30 minutes), stirring occasionally. In a separate bowl, I mixed the egg and brown sugar thoroughly, and added it to the pot. I let it thicken on low (about five minutes). Finally, I took it off the heat and added the vanilla, cinnamon, and golden raisins to the mix. 

Mmmmmm...

Easy homemade eggnog

Brrrrr! It's so cold out! Last night and this morning we got plenty of snow once again. Woke up to find this huge icicle hanging off the tree in our front yard and at least six inches of snow on the ground.

It's basically winter already and I saw eggnog in the store yesterday (that is seriously one of my favorite moments of the year!) so I started craving it. In the spirit of my week of having enough free time to cook all day, I decided to make my own eggnog instead! I found this recipe (from Pinterest, obviously) and got to work!

I halved the recipe since I didn't need much, so here is what I used: 

(doubling it serves 8)

2 large eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups of lowfat milk

I whisked the eggs and sugar together until the sugar was dissolved, then added the vanilla, nutmeg, and milk. I simmered the mixture for at least a minute (because of the uncooked eggs) but it was delicious beforehand, so I may be substituting with pasteurized eggs in the future to be able to drink it uncooked.

Yum!

Apple Pie Cookies

I was playing around with a recipe for apple cinnamon cookies and was in the middle of preparing them (with my inherited KitchenAid mixer pictured below :) ) when I realized I didn't have most of the ingredients called for. Instead, I decided to wing it and work with what I had. I made with cookies that taste like apple pie!

Here's the recipe I ended up using:

2 gala apples diced
2.5 cups of flour, sifted
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs

Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs. Mix the dry ingredients. Combine with diced apples. Bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, until brown around the edges.