A Year of Blogging... and Some News!

We're moving!!

 It's hard to believe we've been blogging from our little apartment above an Italian restaurant for a whole year. I'm here to report that we won't be blogging from here for much longer... we'll be blogging from our new kitchen... in our new house! A few people have asked us if we're going to change the name of the blog now, but that seems like too much effort: the name stays!

We probably won't be doing too much blogging for awhile, so I'm going to list some of my favorite things we've posted over the past year (speaking of favorite things, did anyone see the Sound of Music cast reunite on Oprah this week?? Ah-mazing!). It was hard to choose, since I don't put anything on this blog if I don't genuinely enjoy it, but I've narrowed it down as best I could.

Bec's favorite things:

Salad:
Pear, Walnut, and Feta Salad

Appetizer:
Roasted Garlic Hummus

Soup:
Italian Sausage Soup

Italian dish:
John's Homemade Ravioli

Indian dish:
Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken dish:
Chicken with Israeli Couscous, Spinach, and Feta

Pork dish:
Indoor BBQ Pulled Pork

Vegetarian dish:
Eggplant Rollatini

Cookie:
Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies

Dessert:
Salted Caramel Ice Cream


Thanks for reading our little blog! I hope you've enjoyed our first year. Once we've moved (and unpacked the kitchen), we'll be back with lots of great recipes.
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Classy....

Voor mij zijn er heel wat mensen, foto's, kunst, impressies & ervaringen die klasse uitstralen of een bepaald gevoel oproepen.......

Coco Chanel

Dior

Audrey Hepburn

Lauren Hutton

Grace Kelly





Richard Gere







Having tea at 'Laduree' in Paris



Having lunch at 'Café Marly' in Paris....





Having dinner at restaurant 'The First'-rue Du Rivoli in Parijs


In Antwerpen: ons lievelingsrestaurant 'Sir Anthony Van Dijck'




Palladio's 'Villa Rotonda'



Leonardo Da Vinci

     

Caravaggio



 Anthony Van Dijck



Laocoöngroep in Vaticaans museum 

Cheddar Corn Muffins

 For approximately five years now, my friend Stacie and I have been saying that we should take one of the cooking classes offered at Whole Foods. Last month, we finally made this happen and took a muffin-making class. The woman teaching the class shared some excellent recipes, including this one for cheddar corn muffins. The main thing we learned was not to overmix the muffin batter. I'd heard this before, but it helped to have someone demonstrate when exactly to stop mixing. I always have to mix until I can't see any spots of flour, but apparently I was over-mixing. When everything is just barely incorporated... stop! And you'll end up with fluffy, tender, delicious muffins.

We had some special guests for dinner last night: John's aunt Linda and uncle Mike. Linda is a faithful reader and commenter here on our blog, so we wanted to make a nice dinner for her. We made these to go along with our fabulous barbeque pulled pork. The muffins have an awesome crispy crust on the top, due to a generous sprinkling of cheddar before they go in the oven. There is more cheddar in the batter, along with some oregano and cayenne. The end result is a really tasty, savory muffin... I'll definitely be making these next time we have chili!

Cheddar Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar, grated

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray muffin tins. Combine all dry ingredients. Add half of the grated cheese.

2. In another bowl, mix together the melted butter, milk, and egg. Combine wet into dry, mixing only enough to incorporate the dry ingredients.

3. Fill muffin tins to 3/4 full. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and add an additional sprinkling of cayenne, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes, or until tops feel firm to the touch.

Makes 10-12 muffins.

Download a printable recipe
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Pasta with Tomato and Almond Pesto (Pesto alla Trapanese)

Can I interest you in a fresh-tasting pasta sauce that requires no more effort than throwing a bunch of stuff in your food processor? I made a double batch of the pesto and froze half of it, which I would definitely recommend doing-it doesn't require any extra work, and you'll be glad you have it sitting in your freezer for the next time you need an easy dinner.

Pasta with Tomato and Almond Pesto
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:
1/4     cup slivered almonds, toasted
12     ounces cherry or grape tomatoes (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/2     cup packed fresh basil leaves
1     medium garlic clove , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1/2     teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4     teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/3     cup extra-virgin olive oil
1     pound pasta , preferably linguine or spaghetti
1     ounce Parmesan cheese , grated (about 1/2 cup), plus extra for serving

Instructions:

1. Process almonds, tomatoes, basil, garlic, red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and red pepper flakes in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. With machine running, slowly drizzle in oil, about 30 seconds.

2. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until al dente. Reserve ½ cup cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot.

3. Add pesto and ½ cup Parmesan to cooked pasta, adjusting consistency with reserved pasta cooking water so that pesto coats pasta. Serve immediately, passing Parmesan separately.

Serves 4

Download a printable recipe. 
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