Fall Faves

Hi There!

A few weekends ago it was Canadian Thanksgiving. Since I am friends with a bunch of other Canadians in New York City, we had a dinner party. I assure you, it was so classy and very refined. The evening may or may not have ended with me in a food coma on the floor. Oopsies.

My contributions were pumpkin pie & butternut squash risotto. 

Recipes:

- Butternut Squash Risotto: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/butternut-squash-risotto-2/

- Pumpkin Pie - http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/easy-pumpkin-pie/5793eb83-dca1-45e0-96e1-7f73af9e282f

The risotto took quite a while to prepare but ended up being okay. It was a little bland. Next time, I'll use more garlic & veggie broth.

  

 

 I had never made pumpkin pie before and was totally surprised how easy it was. I'll definitely do this again at Christmas!

Yesterday BF and I walked around central park for the day. I was so shocked that the leaves still hadn't changed color. What the heck, right? 

Whats your favorite fall dish? Are the leaves pretty colors where you live? 

My 1st American Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and that you had a few days off to relax with loved ones!

This past Thursday, I gathered at BF’s house with 11 other Canadians to celebrate Thanksgiving.

mmm jello shots, sriacha & hummus - class for days :)

Each of us made something different & we had TONS of food! I made a blueberry pie and baked maple sweet potatoes with butternut squash. Everything was super yummy! Here are some pics to give you an idea of what we were working with.

my plate - stuffing, sweet potatoes & mashed potatoes.

one of the boys' plates

BF's masterpiece - I didn't have any , but the others enjoyed!

my 2nd pie ever - blueberry

Recipes -

Sweet potatoes: I used a package of precut fresh sweet potatoes from Trader Joes &  added a package of fresh chopped butternut squash too. I added a lot of brown sugar and axed the coconut and pecans. This was even better on the 2^nd day.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/maple-glazed-sweet-potatoes/

Blueberry pie:  I ended up using a few too many blueberries & it didn’t really hold together under the crust. It tasted pretty great on top of some ice cream though!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/blueberry-pie/detail.aspx

all done! sweet potatoes in the background!

 On Wednesday night, I went to Beauty & Essex for a girlfriend’s birthday. They had delicious food, a beautiful space and incredible cocktails (which were also incredibly strong teehee). This place was a little pricey, but it turned out to be a perfect girls night out spot. In the ladies room, there is a bar where they give you free champagne. Not much else better than that!

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/beauty-essex/

How was your Thanksgiving? 

I’m off to clean my apartment as I have some guests coming into town! This will count as my workout (haha).

See, I really did make a pie! (+give away)

See my last post for the recipe!! Yay pie!

My 1st Giveaway!!
 As part of the Foodbuzz tastemakers program with Duncan Hines, I received a bunch of coupons for a free product up to $3.99 in value. I have given a few to friends already (and will be using some to review these products!) Want one? Tell me who you like to bake for & why in the comments. I'll pick the winners next week.

night!

I made a pie.

I did.
Me.
I still can’t believe it.

It was for an office potluck and surprisingly, it turned out really pretty. My coworkers accused me of buying it and pretending to make it.

Lame, right?

I was so impressed with myself that I took a bazillion pictures to show off my domestic-ness. Unfortunately, I uploaded them incorrectly and only 1 showed up in my Picassa web album. Darn it! For now, here is a picture of the final result. I will share more soon!

 Ingredients

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie – I used a premade one by Pillsbury

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

   1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

   2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

   3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/apple-pie-by-grandma-ople/detail.aspx

If you’re new to pies, like I am, I highly recommend Pillsbury’s pie crusts. Very easy to use & yummy. I learned how to do the lattice crust from watching this Youtube video.

 

 I certainly didn’t use a ruler & struggled to do this on my tiny excuse for a countertop. Here is the video I used to teach myself. Skip to 1:48.

Tomorrow, pie attempt part #2 for our Canadians in New York Thanksgiving celebration. This time blueberry. Wish me luck!!

I would like to wish each and every reader a very happy Thanksgiving.  I promise to post my pie pics soon.

Recipe: Fall-tastic Apple Crisp

I always thought that the summer was my favorite season, but living in New York has helped me to find a new appreciation for the fall. The summertime is so humid and disgusting here, that waiting on the subway platform literally feels like you’ve fallen into the depths of hell and the only salvation is hiding in the shade in Central Park and chugging Starbucks iced unsweetened coffee.

Maybe I’m being dramatic, I mean, I do love the summer. I love the beach and the sunshine (and having a tan!).

But the fall, oh the fall. You get to wear cozy sweaters with stylish boots. Your apartment is no longer a sauna, it is actually a comfortable & cool temperature. (As a result the ConEdison bill drops dramatically) You switch from an iced coffee to a delish seasonal latte. And most importantly, fall bring lovely things...

Like people selling cute little pumpkins in the East Village

That first apple cider of the season. So good.

Crisp New York apples.

AND, when life hands you apples, you made apple crisp

What you need to do:

Preheat your oven to 350. Enough apples to fill whatever baking dish you’re using.

 Peel and chop em.

Mix in with the apples:

Lots of Cinnamon

A sprinkle of Quick oats

 1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Once you've done this, place your chopped, seasoned apples in your baking dish.

Topping:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar (optional, leave it out if you like it oaty-er)

1/2 cup butter, melted

Mix until its crumbly. Put this on top of the apples, spread evenly.

I use a LOT of cinnamon.

 

Top with MORE cinnamon

Bake for about 45 minutes

This makes a great weekend breakfast treat or a dessert. Enjoy with someone you care about :) I hope you all had a great weekend! Later!

Baked!

This weekend I did some boxed baking! (It still counts as baking, right?)

It was my friend’s 25^th birthday so he got a special surprise! We went to R Bar in the Lower East Side. A very cool bar with chandeliers and reasonably priced drinks. Check it out. http://www.rbarnyc.com/

Funfetti! Pairs well with vodka soda.

 They were really good, even though this ‘cream cheese’ icing was dairy free?! Ah well, I think I threw out any concerns about health after reading the name “Funfetti” :) 

Then last night, I decided I would continue my domestic streak by trying out a box of this stuff.

must stock up on this !

 In a word, incredible. This box was enough for 1 small and one medium sized loaf. I brought one loaf to work and kept the smaller one for my breakfast this week. Let’s see how long it lasts.

  I think I’ll be picking up some more of this magical mix on my next trip to Trader Joe’s.

I’m off to get my nails done & go to the gym.

Good night!!

Gilt Taste Review & Terrific Tofurky!

Have you every been to http://www.gilttaste.com ? It is incredible. Basically, it's an online shop featuring ridiculous, crazy, often expensive yet, exciting food.

Here are a few things I saw today that I want to try when I'm rich :) (Just kidding, a lot of stuff on the site is affordable especially their pantry section.

Lobster Mac and Cheese - $62.95 for 4

Eleni's New York

Daisy Cookies - $94.95 for 52

Artisanal Premium Cheese

Château Collection- $278.00

Food Connect, Inc.

Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce - $10.95

Amazing, eh

Here is what I had for dinner last night & lunch today.

A big bowl of my favorite, vinegar-tastic salad. See recipe here.

 

For some protein, I cooked up this stuff. Half for dinner by itself and the rest for lunch w/ rice. 

Outdoor Grill Approved! Too bad i live in a small bbq-less apartment in NYC.

I tried to burn it a bit to get the bbq taste!! It worked - this was sooo good. I mixed it with marinara sauce & topped with a bit of fat free Caesar & chili flakes. Yum!