Turning 30 Wasn't So Bad

As I mentioned earlier this month, we had a whole festival planned to celebrate 30 years of my life on this earth.   The Yeti Run was fantastic.  Update on the rest:

Flying Fish was tasty.  

YAY for dinner with good company and good wine AND a Happy Birthday pin

BOO for the special NOT being Surf and Surf with rock shrimp -and- for the kitchen goofing up our order.  ML and Michael's dishes were a bit dry.  I think the chefs messed up my scallops so their plates had to wait. 

YAY for the palate cleansing sorbet we got after the appetizers, while we waited for the main event.

YAY for my free dessert.   It was peanut butter and jelly creme brulee.

As a general rule, creme brulee does not excite me too much.  But this was peanut butter and jelly creme brulee so what could go wrong?   Even more exciting was the pipet of melted chocolate I got to drizzle on top.   It was a cute presentation but the execution left something to be desired.

After dinner we headed back home where ML had a peanut butter PIE waiting.  Y'all.  Two peanut butter desserts in a matter of hours.  I was definitely not seeing why 30 was bad.  

The pie was DELISH but I had a bit of trouble getting the first piece out.   Dessert plating FAIL.   

I ate it anyway.  It tasted great.   I said to Michael once I had set scooped it onto my plate "I did OK!" which for some reason cracked him up.

Wednesday May 8 I took the day off work and we headed to….. SPACE MOUNTAIN.    What can I say I am a kid at heart.      I even got the front seat of the rocket.  Life is good.  After just a couple rides, we were hungry so we shared a cinnamon role - which was the size of my face - and a "LeFou's Brew" which is basically frozen apple juice with liquid marshmallow fluff on top.   It seems like a Marissa drink for sure with the marshmallow!

Michael and I were in "Gaston's Tavern" and sadly you can only see glimpses of the fantastically themed antler decor as well as a portrait of him above the fireplace.  Hilarious.

We rode the "Mountain Trifecta" which is my nerdy way of lumping together Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain.   Big Thunder is my favorite so we did that twice . Dare I say it was a "Mountain Superfecta"?

One can only spend so many hours in the beloved Magic Kingdom, so we high tailed it over to the Polynesia via monorail.  Highly recommended.  Full service restaurants and alcohol await at the resorts!  The Kona Cafe is a favorite lunch option and they even brought me a cupcake - how nice

After lunch we hopped back on the monorail to rent a boat and doodle around in the lagoon in front of Magic Kingdom and also the lake to the east of the park.  Michael and I have been to Magic Kingdom countless times and have ridden the park's Staten Island style ferry frequently, but had never driven our own boat around.  The big guys have the right of way, but being in a small water craft allows you to see the area in a new way.   New experience for US at Disney World?  You bet!   We encountered a fellow Tribe fan, too!  A deck hand?  Sailor?   I don't know his official title, but he said "I love your hat by the way"  as I walked toward our boat.  The hat is an old spring training hat that doesn't even have Chief Wahoo on it - this guy is a super fan.   I make friends everywhere I go- but I am nothing compared to my mother.

They told us not to take pictures while we were out on the water, but Michael was driving so I snapped away!   I made him nervous.  

"Jules you are not supposed to take pictures"  

"What difference does it make?  You're driving"  

"The boat rangers are going to see you"  

"I look innocent.  They can't see a camera from far away.  Anyway, if they notice, I'll just say I thought that rule applied to drivers.  Easier to ask forgiveness than permission!"

The boat ride was super fun, and I have covertly taken photos to prove it!   

Magic Kingdom from the water!  The green awnings are boat docks, and the steel beam is the monorail track

Ferry boat, with Space Mountain behind it

What remains of River Country, an old school "Swimming Hole" that closed in 2001.  

I would love to be able to see this up close.

We would love to do a boat ride again, any time!  

Since the only thing better than one new Disney experience is two, we headed over to Downtown Disney to redeem a Groupon for the tethered hot air balloon ride.  

I do love a deal.  It was essentially buy 1 get 1 free and offered us a unique view of our stomping grounds.  

After heading home for dinner, we ate some cake.   (Oliver, our large tabby, is in the window, oblivious to the goings on)

Seriously this thing is a monster.   No peanut butter, but I was ok with it.  This is a Chocolate Zuccotto cake, which includes an Amaretto soaked cake, which is filled with both chocolate and vanilla mousse.   The Dessert Lady then covers it with ganache.  Oh boy.   I am sure there are no calories on your birthday right?   Ok good.

It was a busy, fun-filled day, which are my favorite kind!   A great way to usher in my next decade.

Truck Day Cookies

After a long cold winter, it's time to think about spring.  The Browns season ended more than a month ago, [thank goodness] but Cleveland Indians fans are focused on a fresh start.  Truck Day, the day the equipment truck leaves Cleveland for its cross-country drive to Goodyear, Arizona, is the first of many signs of spring.  My countdown clock tells me there are 60 days until Opening Day but I am focused on more immediate excitement.   And truck day gets the ball rolling.  No pun intended.

When we were kids, Auntie made cookies with a fellow baseball fan to celebrate the day.  Several years ago I rekindled the tradition because I love baseball and I love frosted sugar cookies almost as much.

Earlier this week, I made a batch of cookies so that my fellow baseball fans (Auntie and my sister, Al) would receive the cookies at the right time.  As luck would have it, today, January 31, marks the truck's first day on the road, and the boxes were delivered right on time.

Are you a baseball fan?  Do you want an excuse to make cookies?  Do you love frosting?  Make some Truck Day cookies!


1) The Pillsbury Doughboy is your friend.   Grab some dough and frosting.

Also grab some decorator's icing.   If you're in a hurry [or they are OUT of red decorating icing] grab some food-safe markers!

2) Slice and bake the cookies.  Let cool

3) Frost!   Eat some frosting with a spoon, straight out of the jar, to be sure it is safe for consumption.  

3) Decorate!  I am no artist.  When we were kids my sister was in charge of this part.  She lives more than 1000 miles away so I am on my own.   I am usually a perfectionist but these were all mailed to the Great White North so I figured they would not look Martha Stewart worthy upon arrival no matter how carefully I decorated.  So I did not worry too much about the appearance of the embellishment.   But if you were having, say, a party, you might want to be a little more precise.

You can see I simply used a red marker to create baseball 'stitches' and blue to write the players numbers.   Red, white and blue are the Indians colors.  If I were, for example, an Oakland A's fan I would grab the yellow and green.

4) If you are kind and generous, box and ship your goodies to your fellow baseball friends.  They will love you forever.  If you are greedy or just love frosting, keep them for yourself.   Enjoy, and remember that come April, everyone is tied for first.

GO TRIBE!

This is what they eat in heaven

Not that there was any doubt, but I have the best sister in the world.   Thursday afternoon the doorbell rang.  I was not expecting a delivery; for once I was not ordering shoes!   [This should probably be noted on a calendar somewhere: Jules did not order shoes this week]  Despite not being done with work for the day, I got up from writing my 100th email of the day -not exaggerating- to investigate.   Everyone needs to stretch her legs, right?

On the doorstep I saw a box with the return address of Momofuku Milk Bar and a "Keep refrigerated" sticker on the outside.    Oh my gosh.    I opened the box, which held a smaller box, tied with a cute silver ribbon.   My suspicions had been confirmed.    BIRTHDAY CAKE TRUFFLES.   

It was not even my birthday!   Now, we all know I have an obsession with desserts and most items loaded with sugar.  These truffles, however, are on another level.  For those of you keeping score, this does, in fact, mean that I ate two of my favorite desserts - EVER- in less than one week: Magic Cookies & Momofuku Milk Bar Truffles.

source

Have you ever had a birthday cake truffle?   If you have not, try to plan a trip to New York in the immediate future.  Then make time to go the store and buy some.   Or, have them shipped to your home.   Better yet, have your sister send them to you!  Enjoy with a latte or a glass of milk and you will be a happy camper.    Here's why:  

These truffles are made with a vanilla cake base and sprinkles (think Funfetti cake mix) and coated with a white chocolate glaze.  Then!    They are dipped into a layer of cake crumbs.   Are you serious?    Yes, my friends.   I am.

Magic Cookies

Ever since I was old enough to use the stove, I have made (literally) hundreds of types of cookies.   Thankfully, I have had more hits than misses.  One of my standbys is, not surprisingly, chocolate chip.   Nothing too fancy, the Nestle Toll House recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag is easy and delicious.    Until recently, they were my chocolate chip recipe of choice.  

Until I stumbled across these fantastically wonderful rounds of bliss via Pinterest.   Originally from The New York Times, I have made these cookies twice and they are a-ma-zing.    I decided to post them on this here blog so I could always find the recipe and ingredients... even when I am not at home with my recipe binder.

These are the best cookies I have ever made in my life.    That is a lot of cookies.   I would perhaps even say they are the best in the world.  Hence my use of the word MAGIC.  The catch?  This recipe is an exercise in patience.  You have to wait (days!) between mixing and baking and eating.  If I can wait, anyone can wait.   Let me explain.

The Magic

Flour
This recipe uses both bread flour and cake flour, but not all purpose flour.  Bread flour has gluten, which baking experts can talk about if you're interested.  Cake flour is more powdery and light.  Together, they work wonders.

Room Temperature Ingredients
Butter takes 30-45 minutes to reach this state.   Do not leave it out all day and let it get mushy or melted
Eggs are also 30-45 min, but I sometimes use this trick: place eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot!) water for 5-10 minutes.

Quality Chocolate
60% cacao chips.   I have not yet found discs (original recipe suggestion) but Ghirardelli's chips are ginormous and work in a similar fashion.   My local Publix carries large Nestle's dark chocolate chips for less money than Ghirardelli, which are also quality.  DO NOT BUY REGULAR CHOCOLATE CHIPS PLEASE

Chilling the Dough
Fridge time lets the dough rest (like when you bake bread) and also lets the butter and eggs mix into the dry ingredients completely.  Different folks say different amounts of time is best.   The first time I made these cookies I waited about 48 hours.   They were amazing.   This time, 72.  Also amazing.   Significantly so?  Not in my opinion.   I have heard 24 hours is fine.  Bottom line: You do no have to wait 3 days!

Ice Cream Scoop
But Jules!  You are talking about cookies, not ice cream.  Yes, but an ice cream scoop yields the perfect size dough ball.  And it's consistent.   You will thank me later.   (If you do not have an ice cream scoop (to which I say SNAP!  How do you live?) you may use a 1/3 cup until you are able to buy the most essential kitchen utensil known to mankind).   These are not tiny cookies. They are not supposed to be! Enjoy.

Sea Salt
Sprinkle this on top of the cookie balls before baking.   Do not be shy.  You will love the sweet/salty euphoria you experience later.

Do Not Over Bake
I repeat. Do Not Over Bake.  They will keep cooking as they cool.  They will be soft and delicious but you will not be eating raw dough.

The Recipe

I have a digital kitchen scale because I am a nerd.   I weigh everything, but good old fashioned measuring cups will be just fine.

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. (8 ½ oz.) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 ½ oz.) bread flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. coarse salt, such as kosher
2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups; 10 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8 oz.) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks-- preferably about 60% cacao content (Ghirardelli)
Sea salt or kosher salt for garnishing
Milk!  (to drink when they're ready)

Day 1

Sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.  (Set aside!  More waiting.  Geez)

Cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy.  This will take 3 to 5 minutes when using a stand mixer with paddle attachment.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. As with any cookie recipe, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula periodically, so everything mixes together well. Reduce the mixer speed to low.   Slowly add dry ingredients, and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds.  (If you don't go slowly, you will end up with a mess of flour all over the kitchen and you'll have to remeasure it, and wait even longer!)  Once the dough is, well, dough, add the chocolate chips.  Make sure they are all mixed in and distributed relatively evenly in there.

If you are using a stand mixer with a metal bowl, put the dough in a glass bowl for chilling.  Press plastic wrap against the dough, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. The dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.    It can also be frozen in an airtight container if you are really want to wait forever.

Day 2 (and maybe 3) 

Wait!   Let the dough chill in the refrigerator.   Make sure your husband does not sneak any tastes. 

Bake Day!

YAY it is time to bake and eat
About 30 - 45 minutes before you want to bake, remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator, and allow it to soften slightly.   Even on my Florida in July counters (we keep it 77 during the day!) this took more than half an hour.   Once the dough is malleable, preheat oven to 350°F.  Also during this time, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.  (I love Silpat!)  Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, scoop out 6 balls of dough.  Place them on the lined baking sheet, evenly spaced. 

Sprinkle lightly [but not too lightly!] with sea salt, and bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 20 minutes.  In my General Electric typical oven, the ideal time was about 16 minutes.  Transfer the entire baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, so that air can circulate all around the cookies while they cool.   Then transfer the cookies onto the rack to cool a bit more.   Don't move them too fast or else the dough will be soft and fall through the cracks of your cooling racks.  Trust me.   Wait!

Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: About 24 (5-inch) cookies.   I ended up with 20 the first time, and 24 the second time.  This was using a 'regular' ice cream scoop (level, not heaping) and eating no dough from the bowl.   I am such a witch.  

NOTE These cookies taste amazing on bake day, but perhaps even better the next day.   That was new for me.  I always thought cookies tasted best right out of the oven.  Don't get me wrong, these are fantastic day of, but the next day- oh my gosh.  Pour yourself some milk and try not to drool all over yourself, or your new cookies.

Now, start baking, friends!  

Great America Pie Festival

Crisco sponsors the "Great American Pie Festival" every year in Celebration, Florida.    I am very close to the idyllic town (even more idyllic during said festival!) and decided to pop over this year to see what it was all about.   To avoid possible guilt trips, I first ran 5 miles.   Highly recommended in order to be able to indulge in such a gluttonous afternoon.

It did not disappoint.  The even itself is free (think demonstrations, local high school bands and dance groups, craft show set up of folks selling goods) but $10 per adult got us admittance to the Never Ending Pie Buffet.  This is, pretty much, just what it sounds like.   Multiple pie vendors set up several varieties on folding tables.  You take what you want (don't worry- plastic forks abound) and enjoy.  

The set up was not conducive to photo snapping.... Picture if you will about 10 tents on each side of the street, each full of banquet tables stacked high with pieces of pie.   Each vendor had at least 3 varieties, most had 5 or 6!  Talk about decision making.

I am a dessert monster as many people know.   Michael is less of a sugar monster;  I ate a bunch more pie than he did.  There were the typical apple, cherry, berry, chocolate, key lime, etc. and they were all quite tasty.  But I did manage to find 3 that were new to me.

Village Inn's Lemon Blueberry Supreme: Each layer totally different!  From bottom to top, pie crust, lemon supreme (lemony cream cheese), lemon cake, whipped topping, and fresh blueberries slightly mashed up.

Lemon Chess: A thicker version of lemon meringue.  Think lemon bar, but in pie form.   I learned that
this is a Southern favorite... so maybe I am just a Yankee who is clueless?  Either way, it was darn good.  (Bless their heart!)

Dixie: Pecan pie's more interesting cousin.  Turns out chocolate chips, walnuts, and pecan filling all combined is a great idea.  Again, props to the southern bakers for thinking of this one.

The best news of the day, perhaps, was that all the varieties included in the buffet were available for purchase as whole pies!  

I bought a Dixie and stuck it in the fridge yesterday afternoon.   After the buffet, we were not in the mood to eat any last night.   Good thing that didn't last long... I tried a piece after lunch today with a cup of tea.... whoa boy.   Dixie tastes even better while you are sitting on your couch in your air conditioned living room whilst watching your team win a baseball game.

Be My Valentine

I did not receive flowers or a box of chocolates.  What I got was way better!

As is typically each weekday, I start my day with a ginormous cup of tea, eat some Kashi and head upstairs to work.  I tend to hunker down and pause only to change from PJs to real clothes around 8 am, and go right on through till my 10:30 video meeting.    Tuesday was no different.

Except that around 9:45 Michael appeared in my doorway.  He was holding a card, a vanilla latte and donuts from Dunks!  My favorites!   And one of the donuts was pink frosted with ….. heart shaped sprinkles.   The way to a girl's heart is copious amounts of sugar in the morning, folks.  He sat in my office while I continued to email my clients, but we did enjoy a few moments of a breakfast treat.

Around lunch time he informed me he was making a 'special Valentine's Jules lunch' which, considering I already had a donut, left me puzzled.  Imagine my surprise when I went downstairs and had a freshly grilled cheeseburger waiting for me.  Oh lordy.  More delicious food!  Then we had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

In addition to February 14 being Valentine's day, it is also my mom's birthday!   Michael's mom was kind enough to make dinner so the 4 of us enjoyed dinner, cake*, and Glee.   My sugar consumption was off the charts.  In other words, it was a lovely Valentine's day.


*Saturday was birthday dinner at Flying Fish while Dad was home.  Sunday we had chocolate peanut butter mousse cake, since Dad was still home and loves caked  Why doesn't?  Tuesday we had leftover cake.  Uncouth?  Maybe but it was SO DELICIOUS I did not even care.  Mom decided three days of celebrating is, in fact, better than one.

Class in a Glass

Since we lived in Ithaca, Michael has gotten very into wines.   He reads about them, keeps notes, goes to a huge wine shop for a great selection and what he tells me are great deals.    I just drink it and know if I like it or not.  He recently purchased Mumm Napa champagne- excuse me SPARKLING WINE because it's not from France- that we have been saving for a special occasion because, well, it's champagne.  (I am calling it champagne, folks.   Deal.)   And you should drink bubbly in one sitting once it's opened.  We tried to get Carmen and Tony to share the bottle when they were here, but the declined.   Side note:  Seriously, who declines champagne?!

So on Sunday we decided to hell with it, we're opening the bottle.   We had also that weekend purchased a champagne saver topper which somehow keeps the bubbles in.   This newfangled device allows us to drink only part of a bottle at once.   It's super fancy.  Don't ask me how it works.  As I said, I only know if I like wine or not.  

In typical fashion, before opening the bottle, Michael did research on the champagne and food pairings.   It turns out that champagne goes with a variety of foods including french fries and apple pie.  Two of my favorites.   We had neither in the house Sunday so Michael decided he would 'get some apple pie.'   We live across the street from Publix, so this seemed to be an easy feat.   But Michael did not go to Publix for the pie.   I'm so glad.

 

525,600 Minutes.... How do you measure a year?

Michael and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary yesterday.  We still don't have a wedding album, mostly because we have yet to be in the same state as the photographer for more than 48 hours, and also because it costs eleventy* billion dollars.  One day we'll get there.  Other than that omission, we're doing pretty well.

One of the highlights of a one-year anniversary, if you ask me, is eating the top layer of your wedding cake.  I know it sounds gross....  one-year old cake and frosting?  Frozen?  Ick.  But there are super detailed instructions online that my lovely mother followed to a T.  She even hauled the cake in a cooler when she and Dad came up to see the Crookers in July.  Marilyn housed it in her extra freezer, and we obtained the blessed pastry on Saturday.   We put it in the fridge overnight, and let it sit on the counter beginning Sunday afternoon.  It looked pretty good!  But how would it taste?!

After we returned from from a lovely dinner at Taughannock Farms Inn, which last night provided a gorgeous view of Cayuga Lake and the trees just starting to change colors, we took the plunge.  My fingers were crossed, as I had no backup plan for dessert.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to report that Kiedrowski's cake freezes and thaws like a dream.   I am a proponent of properly freezing one's wedding cake to enjoy the following year.  The cake maybe didn't taste as good as it did the day it was baked, but it was really good!  The sparkling wine didn't hurt, either.

*TM Pannie

Cupcakes are wonderful, but frosting is divine

I don't know about you guys, but I love frosting. I am lucky enough to have a mother and a boyfreind who do not so I get to eat the frosting on their cupcakes or pieces of cake. I have no shame. Do you think that's indulgent? Well, check this out. I need to a find a bakery that does this. In the interest of saving money, I shall continue to eat it by the spoonful out of a can OR I shall make the recipe at the bottom of the page. Or, if I want to not be a waddley-pooh, I will desperately try to limit my sugar intake. Time will tell!

You know you're a sugar addict when...

...upon realizing the expiration date on your nearly full gallon of milk is 4 days away, you make an entire batch of peanut butter cookies instead of, I don't know, eating some cereal, in order in increase milk consumption. I have lost count of the number of cookies I have eaten this evening, but the milk is closer to half full than nearly full! Mission accomplished.