Girls Night=Pizza Night

This weekend, some girlfriends and I got together to sit around a table, drink wine, and eat. We thought a pizza night would be a good idea. I made the dough and my friends brought the fantastic toppings. Here are two of the lovely pies which came out of the oven. I am also trying to make a better effort to post recipes to go with these photos. You can find them at the end of the post!

Our first pizza was a re-creation of the roasted butternut squash pizza I made in Phili over the summer. This time, we cubed the squash, and I think it made a better pizza.

Dough before topping!


Roasted Butternut Squash pizza with Gruyere, fried sage leaves, garlic and rosemary olive oil, and fresh lemon juice.


For the second pizza, my friend Meri had the genius idea of making a carmelized onion, pear pizza with both goat and gorgonzola cheeses. Perfection.

Pizza before pear!


Pizza after pear!


Here are the recipes we used for the dough and the butternut squash.

Wheat Pizza Crust (taken from the NYT article "Healthier Pizzas" published this summer)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing the pizza crusts
1 1/4 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional if necessary for kneading
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1. Combine the yeast and water in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Add the sugar, and stir together. Let sit two or three minutes, until the water is cloudy. Stir in the olive oil.
2. Combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse once or twice. Then, with the machine running, pour in the yeast mixture. Process until the dough forms a ball on the blades. Remove from the processor (the dough will be a little tacky; flour or moisten your hands so it won’t stick), and knead on a lightly floured surface for a couple of minutes, adding flour as necessary for a smooth dough.
3. Shape the dough into a ball, pinched at bottom and rounded at top. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl, rounded side down first, then rounded side up. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and leave it in a warm spot to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. When it is ready, the dough will stretch when it is gently pulled.
4. Divide the dough into two equal balls. Put the balls on a lightly oiled tray or platter, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap or a damp towel, and leave them to rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Afterward, the dough balls can be placed in a wide bowl, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to three days. Alternatively, you can wrap them loosely in lightly oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate them in a resealable plastic bag. When you are ready to roll out the pizzas, you will need to bring the balls to room temperature and punch them down again.
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven. Roll or press out the dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle. Lightly oil pizza pans, and dust with semolina or cornmeal. Place the dough on the pizza pan. With your fingers, form a slightly thicker raised rim around edge of the circle. Brush everything but the rim with a little olive oil, then top the pizza with the toppings of your choice.
6. Place the pizza pan on the stone. Bake as directed.
Yield: Two 12- to 14-inch crusts.
Advance preparation: The pizza dough can be refrigerated after the first rise for up to three days (see step 4). The rolled out dough can be frozen. Transfer directly from the freezer to the oven.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza (from my lovely friend, Chinwe)

pizza dough
olive oil
a decent-sized butternut squash
4-5 cloves garlic, slices fresh rosemary (say, 2 tsp minced?)
about 1 cup gruyere cheese, grated
fresh sage leaves (20)
half a lemon


Preheat oven to 400.

Peel squash and cube (about 1/2 inch cubes) Toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast in one layer on a baking sheet until soft. Approximately 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice garlic and mince rosemary and put them into a little bowl with 1/3 cup olive oil and let that sit for a while.

Once squash is ready, increase oven heat to 450 or so. Roll out dough and brush it all over with the oil/garlic. Then put down squash, then sprinkle grated gruyere all over. Bake about 12 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and browned.

While pizza bakes, fry the sage leaves in a skillet in a thin layer of oil until kinda crispy but not too brown or burned (keep an eye on them -- they can go fast!). Drain them on paper towels.

When pizza's done, brush the crust with a bit more of the oil/garlic stuff, then put the sage leaves on top. Squeeze the half lemon all over it (it will seem like a lot, but it works!)

I have to say that I was skeptical about squeezing 1/2 a lemon over the pizza, but it really does bring out all the flavors.

Candy Review - Candy Corn Dots

These are some really interesting Dots! I am usually wary of tasting anything candy corn flavored, due to a horrible tasting experience of the candy corn Hershey Kisses. I think these should be renamed "Fall Smoothie Dots". They don't so much taste like candy corn, but remind me more of a creamy egg custard snowball. I love the subtle flavor of these dots. Not as much as the blood orange ones, but almost. Definitely pick up a box if you're an egg custard fan like myself!

Candy Review - Ghost Dots

These are another iteration of the Dots made especially for the Halloween season. I somehow thought these were a special fruit flavor, but they are not. I guess I could have actually read the description on the package before I excitedly bought them at Walgreens. They are a nice color, but the flavors are just plain old Dots flavors. So, if you like Dots, and don't want to know what flavor you're eating, then these are for you.

Candy Review - Halloween Dots

These Halloween Bat Dots were pretty difficult to find. Luckily, my husband found them at our local gas station. They have a wonderful subtle flavor of blood orange. They taste almost exactly like the Sunkist Fruit Snacks from the 1980's. Why don't they bring those back to the grocery store shelves?

Even if you're not the biggest fan of Dots, I would recommend these sweet treats.

Summer Movies 2009

This summer, I finally managed to see most of the movies on my list. Here are the ones I saw and a quick review of each. If they're not in the theater anymore, I would recommend all of these on DVD.

District 9

Many of my friends didn't like this movie, but I thought it was interesting. I'm a sucker for alien movies, and this one had some good ideas. Granted, there were holes in the plot, but it's an action movie, after all.

Watch the trailer here.

Inglourious Basterds

I love that the title is spelled incorrectly and Tarantino won't tell anyone why. Another fine installment from one of my favorite directors. No one else can craft a conversation like him.

watch the trailer

(500) Days of Summer

This was my birthday movie this year, and it did not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised by this film. A nice little story about relationships, music, art, and karaoke.

Trailer:


In The Loop

This was the smartest, funniest movie I've seen in years. Why aren't more people talking about it? So many great lines, I wish I would've had a notebook and pen with me in the theater. My favorite, "difficult difficult lemon difficult".

Trailer

Not Julia Child

The movie "Julie and Julia" inspired me to encourage my friend to flip the 6 egg omelet we were making for breakfast. Most of it ended up in the sink. The photo shows the remaining eggs.

Should have practiced with toast in the pan first!

Brunch with the Girls

I am trying to catch up on all of the food I've managed to photograph this summer. During the spring, my friend and I hosted a lovely brunch at my house. The following photo montage displays our efforts:

Grandma's Sticky Buns Before Oven


Grandma's Sticky Buns After Oven


Fruit Sculpture Courtesy of Friend's Awesome Dad


Quiche and Ina Garten's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Eats and Treats in Phili

A few weekends ago, I ventured to Philadelphia to visit friends. We being the foodie types, the weekend revolved around the eating a preparing of food (as well as a trip to see Julie and Julia).

We started out our Saturday at Carmen's Country Kitchen, a funky little restaurant in South Phili, where we ate in the back of their pick up truck located in the street. What a fun experience! People were stopping to talk with us and there was a case of mistaken identity. The food was fantastic as well. Here's a photo recap:

Pancakes and waffles with caramelized corn, zucchini, and dates:




French Toast with fruit and strawberry fluff:


After brunch, we started working on dinner. After a quick trip to the Reading Terminal Market for ingredients (and Bassett's ice cream), we headed back to the house to start prepping for grilled pizza.

What emerged was this masterpiece...grilled pizza with roasted butternut squash, Gruyere cheese, and fried sage leaves. Beautiful.


We also made a roasted pepper and goat cheese pizza, but I forgot to photograph it.

After dinner, we went to a showing of Julie and Julia, a must see for anyone who loves food.

A great ending to a fantastic day in Philadelphia.

Carmen's Country Kitchen is located at:

1301 S 11th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147-5601
(215) 339-9613

Get there early as they only have about 3 tables inside. If you're lucky, you'll get to sit in the back of the pick-up truck.

Sweet Treats in Boston

Last weekend, the husband and I travelled to Boston to visit friends, eat food, and take in the sights. Last year, I went to Kickass Cupcakes, which were just ok. This year, we went to Sweet for some of the best cupcakes I've ever bought. These rival those at Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Magnolia Bakery in New York City. I tried the Pink Lemonade (pictured above), Boston Cream Pie, and Vanilla Buttercream. They were all fantastic. Perfect, moist cake, with a not too-sweet icing. And they are so pretty!

If you're in Boston, do buy yourself one (or five) of these awesome treats.

Burgers I've Eaten - Part 12

Victoria's Gastropub - Ellicott City, MD

Victoria's Gastropub offers up one of the best burgers I've eaten in quite some time. Everything was fantastically prepared and presented. Their duck fat fries are some of the best I've tasted. The inside of the restaurant is cozy, you can hardly tell it used to be a Bennigans.

The burger was well flavored and cooked well. The bun did tend to get a bit soggy after a few minutes, but that is the cost of a juicy burger.

If you're in Howard County, I would definitely recommend stopping by this neighborhood joint for a burger. You will not be disappointed.

Burgers I've Eaten - Part 11

Last week, I was feeling the need for a burger. It's been a while. I've been wanting to try Fatburger ever since it opened. I'd hoped it would satisfy my cravings for In-N-Out Burger until I could get back to California.

Sadly, this wish was not realized.

Maybe it was because I opted for their smallest burger, but what arrived at our table, I'd hardly call a burger. Instead, it was a minuscule five dollar pile of barely compressed together ground beef. The cheese was slightly burnt, and the bun completely overshadowed the amount of beef on the bun.

The beef also had no flavor.

Did I mention this burger was 5 dollars?

Saddest burger ever. I'd have taken a picture for you to see it, but it would just be too depressing.

I'll stick with Five Guys.

Frank's Muffaletta - New Orleans

Since the French Grocery was closed on Sunday, I had a muffaletta for lunch at their rival, Frank's restaurant. Why have I never had this sandwich before? Everything seemed to blend together into one terrific flavor. I don't know how they compare to the other place in NOLA, but this sandwich was first rate. And I am not the biggest sandwich fan.

GW Fins - New Orleans

It was a difficult decision figuring out where I wanted to have my only dinner in New Orleans, but this place came highly recommended on the web. I was not disappointed. Their oyster appetizer was phenomenal. The oysters were first wood smoked while the shells were heated separately to 500 degrees. They were then placed into the shells with some butter and cooked to perfection. These were so tasty, I could've eaten 30 of them.

I also had the butterfish entree with shrimp etoufee and lobster butter. The fish was perfectly prepared.

Their cocktails are also tasty. They have a signature cocktail made with champagne, and a bunch of fruit juices.

It's a fancy restaurant, but you don't have to dress up to go there. Service was friendly and nice. If you're going to visit the Big Easy, don't miss having dinner here.

Cafe On Main - Columbus, MS

This place had some of the best fried chicken I've ever eaten. It might have even been better than Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston, SC. I also had the squash dressing and smashed potatoes. I had never heard of squash dressing and it was wonderful. A little sweet, a little salty, and the perfect accompaniment to the fried chicken.

For dessert, I had the lemon ice box cake. The crumb crust reminded me of the German wedding cookies my family makes for the holidays. A great ice box cake that was not too sweet.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera this trip, so no pictures. But, if you have the chance to travel to Columbus, Mississippi, I would highly recommend stopping here for lunch.

Doe's Eat Place - Greenville, Mississippi

If you asked me where I would eat the best steak of my life, I would not have said Mississippi. But, it was here at Doe's Eat Place in Greenville, Mississippi, that they make the best steaks I've ever eaten.

I was still full from the awesome fried chicken I ate for lunch, so I only bought the 12 ounce fillet. It came out from the kitchen perfectly prepared, with a great seared crust on top, and yummy juices flowing out onto the plate.

The beef tamales were also fantastic, and are made from a recipe from the original owner dating back to the 1940's.

If you're into dive restaurants, this is your place. It's located in an old grocery store on the wrong side of town (and I mean wrong side...a security guard makes sure your car doesn't get broken into while you're eating). It's not fancy, but who cares, when the food is this good.

Doe's Eat Place is located on Nelson Street in Greenville, Mississippi. There are other locations throughout the south, but this is the original, and I've been told, the best.

Snowballs

Yesterday, I went to The Snowball Stand in Howard County for my first snowball of the season. Snowballs, as far as I know, are a distinctly Maryland treat. I grew up in Baltimore, and there were snowballs stands everywhere. My friend in middle school even ran her own out of her grandfather's garage! On the Fourth of July, my Aunt would sit on the back porch and hand shave ice so everyone could have a snowball.

There are different styles of ice in a snowball now, but I think that a traditional one is just shaved, slightly chunky ice. Cover with your favorite sugary syrup flavor, and you have a snowball.

I have always been a fan of marshmallow topping for snowballs. In my opinion, the more, the better. Some snowball stands are really cheap with their marshmallow toppings. But, not the snowball stand!

Personally, I think Egg Custard is the best snowball flavor. It's difficult for me to order any other. But, before Egg Custard, I was also a fan of Cherry, Skylight, Spearmint, Ice Cream, and Vanilla.

If you're in Howard County feel like picking up a sugary, gooey snowball for yourself, The Snowball Stand is located at the corner of Route 99 and Woodstock Road.

Seattle Eats - Dahlia Lounge

Holy yumminess of food at Dahlia Lounge! This restaurant is owned by the famous Seattle chef who's name I do not know. But, he is famous out there and has a bunch of restaurants. I always miss eating at one, and this time wanted to make more of an effort. I was not disappointed. Even though the food was great, my pictures of the food were not, so please bear with me here...

Little ceviche taste from the kitchen to start...


Rockfish, Grapefruit, and Coriander ceviche app


This was so good I don't know where to start. Super awesome flavor, and something you wouldn't see anywhere else.

Fresh Salmon with Arugula (I think), Gnocchi, and some sort of awesome sauce with bacon



This entree is the reason I don't eat salmon unless I'm in the Northwest. Cooked to perfection with a fantastic accompaniment in the gnocchi and the sauce. Plus, just enough bacon to make the dish interesting, without overpowering the fish.

Not pictured are their great desserts. A caramel chocolate pudding with cardamom cream, and warm donuts shaken with cinammon sugar at your table, accompanied with rhubarb jam and marscapone cheese. Delicious!

This restaurant was recommended to me years ago by a local, and I can't believe it took me so long to eat here.

Seattle Eats - Le Panier

Every time I go to Seattle, which has been three so far, I have to go to Le Panier for coffee and French-style macaroons. Their baked goods are so amazing, it's difficult not to buy everything in the case. This time, I also had an almond croissant, but forgot to take a picture.

Here's the website for Le Panier. It's located right at the market (and who doesn't visit the market when in Seattle?)

As you can see from the picture, I went a little overboard with the macaroons this time, but I didn't know when I'd be able to eat them again.

ORIOLES!

Just a few shots from the first O's game I attended this season.

Orioles 10 - White Sox 3

Rain Delay


T-Shirt Night!


I miss when there were lots of fans at the yard

Process

I decided to document the (not always pretty) painting process for my next project. I'm working on another of the Women in Corners series. For those keeping track, this is #4. This one is a little different, because the corner is implied, and there are 2 figures. Here's the progress so far.

Starting out - Grid and Charcoal Outline


2nd Layer (after a cadmium red and transparent orange underpainting)

Ramps

This weekend, my friend and I made pizza on a Saturday night. Our most successful creation (of the 3 we made) was this one with roasted garlic, olive oil, olives, sea salt, goat cheese, and ramps. This was the best pizza I ever helped to make. Hurray for ramps!

Friday Funny - Safety Video

I work in the safety industry, and there are alot of videos out there like this one. It's pretty gory, so it is not for the faint of heart (but it is all fake blood). I find it interesting that they show all of these injury scenarios, but the instructors only offer "be safe" as the solution to them.

If someone doesn't know not to weld a barrel full of explosive chemicals, I don't know if they can be helped.

Boo Teixeria

Normally, I don't like to boo players, but this guy made me sad, so boo him!

Opening Day!

Happy opening day to the BALTIMORE ORIOLES!

GO O's!!!!

Woman in Corner #3 - "She Couldn't Be Good!"

After months and months of working on this painting, it is finally finished! I think this is my favorite of the Women in Corners series thus far.

New Paintings

I made these paintings for a friend who's having a little boy soon! They are based on the sheets they picked out for the nursery.

Turtle!

Hippo!

Giraffe!

All 3!

What I Made for Dinner - 03/16/09

I am trying to get out of my winter rut of making tofu and refried beans once a week for dinner (even though it is tasty).

Last night, I made an olive and sun dried tomato tapenade and served it with some endive spears from the Everyday Italian cookbook. It was my first time making tapenade and it was so simple! It was also the first time I got to break out my new olive pitter and I don't know how I lived without one.

I also made a lasagna from the America's Best New Recipes cookbook. I modified it a little by using ground turkey instead of meatloaf mix because I don't eat veal. I also forgot to buy heavy cream at the store, but I didn't really miss it in the sauce. The best thing about making sauce now is the awesome dutch oven I received for Christmas! It's the best cookware ever.

Tapenade and Endive!

Sauce is ready!

Lasagna is assembled in the dish!

Piece of lasagna!

New Favorite Snack - Emerald Trail Mix

I tried the Emerald Breakfast Blend Trail Mix yesterday and it is my new favorite snack. Dried apples, glazed nuts, yogurt covered raisins, and more. It's pretty tasty. I also bought the Berry Blend pictured above, but haven't tried it yet.

I don't think I've had yogurt covered raisins since I was in the Girl Scouts, and I forgot how great they taste!

Friday Funny

I think Ricky Gervais has the best laugh on the planet. Here he is with Elmo (who always kind of freaked me out, but is super cute here).

Watchmen

The Watchmen movie was so bad, I don't even feel like searching for a picture of it for my blog. Don't waste your precious time and money seeing this film. Read the graphic novel instead. You won't regret it.

If you've seen the movie, please still read the novel. It is really good. I promise.

Happy Birthday, Barbie!

Today is Barbie's 50th Birthday. Being a child of the 1980's, I had tons of Barbie dolls. Sometimes, my friend Jane and I talk for hours about our favorites. Here's pics of some of my favorite Barbie dolls. (Note that my ultimate favorite is Crystal Barbie with her pretty glittery shoes. They're the only shoes I never lost)

Sorry!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything of note. I haven't been a good blogger. I promise I'll be back with reviews of Watchmen and the new Neko Case album soon!