A Hogwarts Dinner for Harry Potter's 34th Birthday!

Today, July 31st, marks a very special occasion - it's Harry Potter's 34th birthday! He's just returned from Patagonia, where he cheered on old friend Viktor Krum as Bulgaria beat Brazil in this year's Quidditch World Cup (seriously, if you haven't checked your Pottermore account recently, or if for some strange reason you don't have a Pottermore account, log in right now and get reading!), so suffice it to say it's been a good month for the Boy Who Lived!

In honor of his birthday and the fact that I have an arguably unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter (I threw myself a 25th birthday party that was completely Harry Potter themed), I prepared a meal featuring items mentioned during the course of the books. With the help of Dinah Bucholz' Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, which really is a great addition to your library (even if Harry Potter isn't your cup of tea, there are a lot of quintessentially British foods included), we had roast beef, roasted carrots, and vegetable pies, followed by a rhubarb crisp with warm custard. Sadly, I couldn't use my wand to clean up the dishes afterwards, but the meal was worth scrubbing a few pots!

Slughorn passed around a plate of pies . . .

The cookbook has recipes for British pies, two savory and two sweet. The savory pies both sounded great - chicken and mushroom and meat and potato - but since I was already cooking a roast and didn't want to go to the trouble of preparing more meat, I combined the two recipes to create a vegetable pie. Just follow the directions for the crust, and then lightly saute a medium onion, a medium zucchini, a handful of new potatoes (or one medium potato, depending on what's in your pantry), and mushrooms, all finely diced. Fill and bake as directed, and voila! They lifted easily out of the pie tin. And don't be fooled by their size - each one is surprisingly filling.

Roast beef, carrots. potatoes . . .

As you can see, my roast was a bit over-done, but still yummy. I added a herb crust because I like herbs and because I'm trying to clean out our cabinets. Combine two teaspoons each of basil, thyme, oregano, and mustard, then rub all over and bake as directed.

Harry looked up from his rhubarb crisp and custard . . .

I love tart tastes, so this dessert was right up my alley. If you don't want to do all rhubarb, you can always substitute half of the fruit for strawberries, which will sweeten the palate.

Homemade Fruit Lemonade! (Sort of)

While out at restaurants, I'm never really tempted to overload my body with sugary drinks . . . like Coke, that is. Strawberry lemonade though, is a different story. The combination of sweet berries and tangy lemon is mouthwatering, especially when the drink is so thick it's almost like drinking a smoothie. For the Fourth of July this year, as our tables were groaning under the weight of so much fresh produce, my mother had an absolutely brilliant idea - turn the fruit into fruit juice! And then add it to lemonade!

Fruit, fruit everywhere and so many drops to drink

We used our Nutribullet to liquify strawberries, mangoes, and watermelon (all separately, of course). The watermelon benefitted from being strained through a paper towel to remove the grainy bits, but it isn't absolutely necessary if you're not set on a juice that has to be completely smooth.

Now, we didn't actually make the lemonade by hand - this was a rather last-minute idea, and there wasn't enough time to squeeze lemons in the quantities needed to hydrate about twelve thirsty people. We took the shortcut and mixed up a batch from a Minute Maid can, which tasted pretty good, in all fairness.

From there, it was just a matter of pouring everyone a glass and pointing them to the table, where they could add as much or as little fruit juice as they wanted. The strawberry proved most popular, although the mango contingent was pretty vocal. Suggestions were made for darker berries next time - blackberries and blueberries, beware!

Brit + Co Post: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes

Gluten-free vegans have just as much of a right to "10 Vegan, Gluten-Free Recipes More Delish Than Your Lunch" that the rest of us do.

Pizza pizza!

From the article: "Let’s be honest; for those of us with dietary restrictions, such as a gluten intolerance, or those who follow certain eating practices, like veganism, it can be hard to find recipes that make your friends and coworkers legit jealous of what you brought for lunch. And for those of us who combine both, it can be tough to create interesting meals on the daily. But don’t worry! You aren’t relegated to rice and vegetables — from appetizers to desserts, here are a week’s worth of recipes that are vegan, gluten-free and, most importantly, delicious!"

Homemade Ice Cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! I don't know if I would actually "scream," but I certainly throw fits when someone else eats the last serving and will drive to Publix at ten at night if I'm having a mint chocolate craving, so I certainly love the stuff. It's a family trait, really - my father has a serving of ice cream every night before bed (and he's thin as a rail, go figure) and my brother thinks nothing of destroying an entire Ben & Jerry's pint in one sitting. Given the amount of ice cream consumed at my house, plus a desire to focus on food with natural, pronounce-able ingredients and without laundry lists of preservatives and additives, I finally bit the bullet and bought an ice cream maker! The Cuisinart ICE-21 Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker, to be precise. And man, was that money well spent.

We started with vanilla, the most basic ingredient in the included recipe book. Instead of a entire cup of whole milk, I subbed in half a cup of almond milk. Mixing the milks, sugar, salt, and cream took about five minutes with a whisk, and after sitting overnight in the fridge and a mere 15 minutes in the machine, look what we had!

Homemade goodness

The ice cream was absolutely delicious. It was sweet, creamy, and even better than store-bought, in my opinion. The consistency isn't as hard as the stuff in cartons, but if you prefer it that way, just scoop the ice cream out of the mixer, place it in an airtight container in the freezer, and wait a couple of hours. We didn't have the patience for that though, so into our mouths it went! I hadn't even finished making the last serving before the first person was buzzing around looking for seconds - pft, like there were any.

The Cuisinart is really a great machine. The bowl is double-insulated with liquid in the middle, so it has to be frozen before the mixture is poured in (in our fridge, it didn't even take six hours to do the trick). We just turned it on and went about our business - you can definitely hear the engine running, but it isn't loud enough to make you reach for a pair of earplugs or anything, and my mom was able to hold a conversation in the next room, which is open to the kitchen, just fine. I actually found the hum oddly comforting, but maybe that's just because I knew what it was saying . . . ice cream is coming! ice cream is coming!

It's actually really fun to watch it work, too. The paddle stays in position while the bowl rotates around, so you could see the ice cream being summoned from the sweet liquidity depths of the milk and cream mixture. Once the liquid was gone, you just pull out the paddle and eat!

All ready to be scooped out

The possibilities are endless. I want to try substituting all the milk for almond milk, which would drastically cut calories and fat without, I think, sacrificing flavor. And that means I can have three scoops next time, right? Right?

Quotable Corner: Erma Bombeck

"Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go."

Brit + Co Post: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Recipes

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were one of my favorite treats growing up. "25 of the Best Chocolate and Peanut Butter Recipes #GuiltyPleasures" is inspired by that love, and takes the classic chocolate/peanut butter pairing to the next level.

Is it bad I'm tempted to eat ALL THE STACKS?

From the article: "In the culinary world, there are some combinations that are widely accepted as tasting better when they’re together. Case in point — tomato and basil, bagels and cream cheese and of course, chocolate and peanut butter. Whether you’re looking for something vegan, a treat that’s quick to make or a dessert that’s completely show-stopping, here are the best chocolate and peanut butter recipes on the planet."

Berry Trifle

I love berries, and I love angel food cake, and I love all things British, so obviously I love trifle. The colors made it a perfect choice for our Fourth of July festivities,  but this dessert lends itself to any event at any time, really. And it offers endless room for variation, which I love. Prefer raspberries to strawberries? Go right ahead. Want to make a few individual servings in Mason jars because you can't be bothered to pull out your trifle dish? Knock yourself out. The sky's the limit!

Blueberries and strawberries and cake, oh my!

Our trifle used strawberries, blueberries, premade angel food cake, and premade lemon loaf cake, both purchased at Walmart since there wasn't going to be enough time to make the cakes from scratch, but that's always an option if you want to go to the extra mile, of course. The lemon loaf cake tasted delicious and added a nice dimension to the flavor palate, but red/white/blue fanatics or trifle purists might want to stick with regular loaf cake to avoid any yellow.

The cream layer is, like everything else in a trifle, customizable to your taste. I like beating one brick (8 oz.) of softened cream cheese with a half cup of sugar and a dash of vanilla, then gradually beating in two cups of heavy whipping cream. This makes a soft, spreadable cream with just enough tang from the cream cheese to make us happy. If you want a firmer or more cream cheese-y spread, use two bricks and a cup of whipping cream. If cream cheese isn't your thing at all, whip one to two cups of heavy whipping cream until its at a soft consistency and add a tub of softened Cool-Whip for extra volume.

Once you've got your chosen cream, berries, and cake (cut into cubes if you're feeling geometric or just torn into shreds if you're feeling rugged), it's time to layer! Half the cake, half the cream, and half the berries, and then the next half of cake, half of cream, and half of berries. As you can see, I went for the natural (aka "just thrown about") look, but you can also arrange the berries in fancy patterns. Cover with cling wrap and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour, and then dig in!

Brit + Co Post: What to Do with Leftover Applesauce

I like to purchase various jars and bottles, use them for the recipe I had in mind at the time of purchase, and then forget to ever look at them again. Well, I don't actually like to forget them, it just happens. Ergo, "10 Creative Ways to Finish That Jar of Applesauce," which will help rescue the applesauce jar, at least, from obscurity.

I'm a sucker for smoothies

From the article: "Applesauce is one of those items we all buy, use once or twice to make a pretty cake for company, and then forget about as it sadly languishes in the back of the fridge until Thanksgiving comes around :( We know that trying to figure out what to do with leftovers can be a pain, so we pulled together some of the most delicious ways to use up what’s left in the jar."

Homemade Crunchwraps

I have a confession to make. I like eating healthy, and try to get as many fruit and vegetables as possible into my diet, but I also love eating at Taco Bell, even if I try not to think too hard about what's actually in the food. So, the last time I had a craving, I figured that anything they could make, I could make, and decided to try my hand at one of my favorite treats from the Bell - crunchwraps!

Nice and toasty

It may take a little practice to get them crisp, but even if your early efforts don't come out as perfectly-looking as Taco Bell's, don't worry, they'll still taste delicious! My brother swears they're even better than the store-bought ones, and he's a hardcore Bell aficionado, so I'm trusting his judgment.

Recipe:

Large/extra large flour tortillas

Ground beef (I used a package that had slightly less than 2 lbs, and ended up with 10 crunchwraps)

1 green pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

Olive oil

Seasoning to taste: paprika, cumin, oregano, basil, chili powder, taco seasoning, etc.

Spreadable cheese (like Tostito's Cheesy Dip)

Hard taco shells

Sour cream

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Tomato, diced

1. On high heat, add olive oil to a large frying pan and cook the pepper and onion until onion is translucent.

2. Add the ground beef and seasonings and brown. Transfer the meat to a bowl and clean the frying pan (you're going to use this for the crunchwraps now.)

3. Turn the burner down to medium.

4. On a tortilla, spread some cheese in the center, in about a 3 inch circle.

5. Place some of the ground beef right on the cheese.

6. Take a hard taco shell, break it in half so that you have two half-circles, and place the sides together on top of the beef, flat sides touching, so that you have a circle.

7. Spread sour cream on the taco shells.

8. Add romaine lettuce and then tomatoes.

9. Fold the sides of the tortilla around the filling. Don't worry, there will be open space in the middle.

10. Spray just a little cooking spray on the pan and place the crunchwrap on the pan, open side down (be careful not to overspray, as your crunchwraps will turn out more soggy and not as crisp and brown).

11. Press down with a plate/spatula, and let crunchwrap cook for about 3-4 minutes. You can carefully pull up a side with the spatula and check to see if it's browning.

12. Flip over and do the same to the other side. Done!

Brit + Co Post: Fourth of July Desserts

The Fourth of July might be one of my favorite holidays - there's barbecuing, there's fireworks, and there's tons of red, white, and blue treats. Check out these "20 Perfectly Patriotic Desserts for Independence Day" - whether you're looking for something fruity, something cake-y, something for a group of sixty or something just for the family, I've got you covered!

Ombre icing? Sign me up!

From the article: "Independence Day is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about the menu for your patriotic get-together. You’ve got your all-American recipes, festive decorations and other Fourth of July must-haves, so make sure you don’t forget dessert! These 20 red, white and blue treats are just the thing to help you add a little flair to the table and cap off a great July 4th celebration."

What to Do With A Butternut Squash

We were gifted with a large butternut squash the other day, and as the giver of said squash would demand to know when and in what form it was eaten, and my family isn't really too keen on just roasted butternut, I knew I had to do something. Thank goodness for the wonder that is the Internet.

Now, this butternut was a big boy, so big that I was going to have to come up with a few different recipes. The first thing I made were butternut squash and black bean burritos. They were good. So good, in fact, that I didn't even have time to grab my camera before they were disappearing into hungry bellies. I followed the original recipe pretty faithfully, but there's room to play around depending on your personal tastes and what's in your fridge at the time. For example,

• We didn't have the red pepper that was called for, but the green and yellow peppers on hand did just fine. 
• I took the time to make the black beans from scratch, half because I like the taste a little better and half because I had a bag that had been sitting around for a while and wanted to be put to good use (I could tell). Because I made a whole bag, instead of using one can, I was also able to stretch the mix to make more burritos.
• The original recipe is vegan, but none of us have any particular qualm about animal products and I had a half-used bag of cotija cheese in the fridge. Cheese of some sort definitely adds to the flavor, so use whatever you've got.
• My mom isn't too big on spicy foods, so I omitted the cayenne pepper, which left the mix a little sweeter, if you like that sort of thing.

Layered on a bed of romaine and sliced tomatoes, these were delicious. And the mix keeps well - I ate it cold with lettuce the next day at work, and it was just as good. And it's not difficult at all, only a little time-consuming (roasting the squash takes between 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size and your oven).

But as good as the burritos were (and as many people as they fed - eight, three of whom were 20-something boys), they only used up half of the my squash. I try to avoid making dinners that feature the same taste/item more than once in any given week, so onto dessert it was!

I like using my ramekins, since I think they're oh so cute, so steamed butternut squash pudding sounded like just the ticket. I was even better at being faithful to this recipe, except for three little things. I cut the sugar to 3/4 of a cup, I omitted the ginger and doubled the cinnamon (on the basis of I didn't have ginger and I did have cinnamon), and since I was hampered by the number of ramekins we own, I made six puddings instead of 12.

Fresh right out of the oven

The recipe says these take 22 minutes to bake at 325 degrees, but they took me about an hour and ten minutes at 350. It could be that I was effectively doubling the amount of batter in each ramekin, but other reviews said they had the same trouble vis a vis baking time, so I wasn't too worried.

These were great. Served with homemade vanilla whipped cream (much quicker to make than a sabayon), they made a great dessert, and were just as good cold the next day for breakfast. Hey, if we can eat muffins in the morning, why not butternut puddings, right?

Brit + Co Post: What to Eat to Stay Healthy

I am a woman of many talents. I eat salads without dressing, I carry groceries into the house in one (ok, maybe two) trips, and I'm a contributor for the lifestyle website Brit + Co (when you have some free time, you should check them out - the website is full of great DIY projects, decorating ideas, and fashion tips, and they've just opened a store and started offering online classes). As such, I write about technology, design, and of course, food. And because this is a food blog, it makes sense to shamelessly plug myself and include links to my culinary articles :)

First up, "These Are the 10 Best Foods to Eat to Keep From Getting Sick," a round-up of foods guaranteed to make you run faster and jump higher (because your PF Flyers are out of commission, natch) . . . or, at the very least, make you feel stronger and healthier.

If only blueberries actually came in the size they appear here

From the article: "The waiting room, the insurance forms, the poking and prodding — let’s face it, visiting the doctor is not fun. If you want to minimize the number of trips you make to their office, a great way to do that is to eat the proper foods. Step aside, apples. There are plenty of awesome superfoods to keep the trips to a minimum. Whether you want to boost your immune system, strengthen your bones and joints or get glowing skin, check out the list below for what to eat + how it will help your body."

Mango Muffins

My grandmother has a mango tree in her backyard, which means that each summer our fridge is bursting with juicy red-orange fruit (not to mention the bags and bags of diced mango in the freezer to be enjoyed in the dead of winter, "winter" being a relative term in South Florida). Despite all the mango smoothies, mango salsa, and mango sorbet we consume, I've never created mango baked goods before, an egregious oversight on my part I thought should be ameliorated immediately, especially since there was no more room in either the fridge or the freezer and I had no more pressing plans for the evening than watching "Snowpiercer."

That's one plate for me . . .

In the interests of full disclosure, my first foray into muffin recipe-creating produced muffins that were so heavy, they could have been used to build a bearing wall (although they still tasted delicious), so I found a few tips that were extremely helpful and thought I should pass them on. Baker solidarity!

• Mix the dry ingredients first, then mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. It may seem annoying to have an extra dish to wash, but it's crucial to creating the right texture.
• Do not overmix! I'm certainly guilty of this, but overmixing is the number one reason why muffins don't turn out light and fluffy. 10 to 15 rotations should do it, and don't worry if there are still pockets of white flour in the batter - they're supposed to be there!
• If you're spraying/greasing the muffin tin, make sure to only spray/grease the bottom, avoiding the sides as much as possible.

These muffins are dense, but in a filling way. I stretched the batter to 18 muffins, but 15 would probably be a wiser choice. The diced bits of mango add nice bursts of flavor, and there's no oil or butter, so they aren't too hard on the waistline either. They're great on their own, but a lime glaze (powdered sugar and lime juice, mixed to whatever consistency floats your boat) would add a nice kick if you're feeling adventurous.

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1/4 cup almond milk

3/4 cup mango puree

3/4 cup diced mango (these should be firm, not too ripe)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix dry ingredients together and form a well.

3. Mix wet ingredients together.

4. Add wet ingredients to the well and mix (again, don't be here too long!)

5. Scoop into muffin tins (these should either be lined or lightly sprayed, as the contents of your pantry dictate).

6. Lower the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Quotable Corner: J.R.R. Tolkien

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

Reykjavik Restaurants and Icelandic Cuisine

In March, my sister let me tag along on her graduation trip to Reykjavik, Iceland. I could describe to you in exquisite detail just how beautiful the country is and how much I loved it, but you would drop dead of exhaustion long before you hit the end of the post, so suffice it to say that pretty much everything you've heard about the island is true. Starkly beautiful landscapes of rock and ice? Check. Awe-inspiring glaciers, volcanos, waterfalls? Check. A capital city full of charm, quirks, and colorful buildings? Check.

But what about the food, you ask? Food, of course, being one of the most important aspects of a particular culture and one of the most memorable parts of any trip? Other than the obligatory taste of hakarl, the rotten shark "delicacy," to put it politely, that all tourists are forced to endure (and which tastes just as good as the name suggests), we didn't have one poor culinary experience. Keep reading for some of the notable places we ate and observations on Icelandic cuisine.

Saegreifinn, or The Sea Baron, is right on the harbor, and makes a great stop after you've finished rummaging through the myriad delights to be found at the Kolaportið flea market. You go in and peruse the refrigerated shelves of kabobs and fish on offer, make your selection, and wait to have your meal prepared and brought to you at the communal table. If you're not in the mood for food on a stick, you can opt for the other option, the one they're actually best known for - a big bowl of smooth, thick, delicious lobster soup. Accompanied by all the flaky bread and rich butter you can eat, the soup is warm and filling, since there's no skipping on the actual lobster. Halfway through, you'll think you want another bowl because it's just so good, only to hit the bottom and realize that you're deliciously stuffed. At about $12 per bowl, you can't go wrong.

Both the bowl and basket were quickly emptied

After an eventful whale-watching tour, we were in the mood for quick and simple food. Enter Baejaerins Betzu Pyslur, also known as The Best Hot Dogs on the Planet. No, seriously. I'm personally not a huge hot dog fan, but in all my research, this little shack in an empty lot on the side of the road kept coming up as a must-see, and if they were good enough for President Clinton, they were good enough for us. And you know what? The hype isn't wrong. These hot dogs are made from a combination of beef, pork, and lamb, and are best enjoyed eina med ollu, or with everything, which means ketchup, spiced mustard, remoulade, raw onions, and fried onions. At about $4 a hot dog, you won't feel any compunction about ordering two or even three. These are the best in the on the planet, after all.

Notice the handy hot dog holders on the table

 The Laundromat Cafe is a small restaurant that, despite its Danish origins, has become somewhat of an Icelandic staple, and rightly so. Whether its the rows of books that patrons can peruse and read (and even take if they leave one in exchange) while eating, the actual laundry machines downstairs, or the racks of magazines hanging in the window, there's a certain charm about the place. It's a little pricier (around $15-16 for a sandwich and fries), but you definitely get your money's worth - serving sizes are huge, easily big enough to share, and the food is tasty. My chicken club sandwich was perhaps one of the best of its kind I've ever tried.

I was tempted to come back and do a load of laundry, just to say I did

Icelandic cuisine consists of a few staple ingredients. It is an island, so fish, of course, plays a huge role, whether in smoked, dried, or pickled form. These methods were the only way to preserve food for long enough to see early Icelanders through the lengthy, harsh winters, and are still popular today, especially smoked lamb. Dark, dense breads like rye were (and are) easy to make, as were thin pancake/crepe-like concoctions that can be served at any meal. Skyr, a thick and protein-rich yogurt, features prominently. So it's fair to say that our meal at Cafe Loki, which included each of these elements, was a pretty fair sampling, and a delicious one at that - there's another picture, taken about twenty minutes after this one, that shows the same plates, only then they had been wiped so clean a dishwasher seemed superfluous (if still a sound sanitary choice).

Pickled herring and eggs on rye, smoked lamb on flatbread, and a Skyr-stuffed caramel pancake

While Iceland may not actually be covered in ice (its proximity to the Gulf Stream means the island actually enjoys a more temperate climate than many parts of the United States, especially those hit by massive snowstorms this past winter), the weather can still be pretty changeable, and grey drizzle is an accepted part of daily life (on the flip side, if you don't like the weather, the Icelanders say, just wait fifteen minutes). If you're looking to get out of the cold and rain for a bit, sneak into C is for Cookie for a cup of some truly delicious hot chocolate.

Happiness in a mug

If you're suffering from a surfeit of pickled herring and sliced egg sandwiches or are just suffering from a Thai craving while in Iceland, don't despair! Try the Noodle Station. You go in, choose whether you want beef, chicken, or tofu, hand over about $11, and enjoy a darn good bowl of noodle soup. The recipe has been in the owner's family for generations - or that's how the story goes, anyway.

We opted for beef. Good decision.

Don't think the international cuisine stops at Thai noodles. Just walking up and down the main street, we passed sushi shops, steak houses, vegetarian and raw bars, bakeries, and Chinese joints. And the native food isn't too shabby either. It's pretty good - delicious, even. Different, perhaps, than what many Americans are used to, but flavorful all the same. Last tip - if you're thinking about souvenirs or gifts for friends, try the ubiquitous dried fish - it's good for you, travels well, and makes a great snack. If not, Icelandic moss tea is just as good for you (I'm sensing a theme - perhaps that's how the Vikings managed to survive and thrive, by eating such healthy food), and easier on the olfactory senses.

One last thing. If you're going to Iceland, you will come across Brennivin, either as you prepare for the trip or as you're out and about. It's called Black Death. There's a good reason why it's called Black Death. Do with this information as you will.

Verdi per ad godu! 

I Hope You're Hungry!

A large part of this blog is is going to focus on food, because a large part of my life focuses on food! Join me in testing new recipes, hosting tea parties, shopping for the perfect eggplant, and the simple enjoyment of food and cooking.

Because that's what it's about, really. We eat because we have to in order to sustain life, yes, but we take the time to craft delicious meals and play with exotic (or not so exotic, depending on relative location, but I digress) ingredients because the act of creation is as close to the divine as we can get, and the act of sharing and partaking in those culinary creations is as human as an experience can be. Food is important, eating is important, and cooking is important, because as Leigh Standley said so perfectly, "A great many things can be solved with kindness – even more with laughter – but some things just require cake."