Weekend Wrap-Up: Mother's Day

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and was able to spend Mother's Day with their mamas. Mother's Day here was celebrated with a homemade brunch that I slaved over--maybe I'm exaggerating--with some help from the bro. We came up with quite the spread: strawberry scones, herb and ricotta omelets, peanut butter and banana oatmeal, and sausages. Yum, right?!

I got the scone recipe from Mara over at M Loves M. Her recipe was for strawberry lavender scones; unfortunately, we could not find lavender so we had to cut it from the recipe! They were still absolutely delicious. Find the recipe here!

Both of the recipes for the omelet and oatmeal came from the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano. The omelet I altered a bit since I did not have the fresh herbs that the recipe called for. Rather I sprinkled in a dried mixture of Herbs from Provence. This was also my first time using ricotta cheese in an omelet. I liked it! Ricotta is not the strongest tasting cheese, but I did like it. I also made homemade oatmeal for the first time. It was so quick and easy! Just some old-fashioned oatmeal, water, a little milk and butter, and finished with the peanut butter and banana. Everything was delicious!

<3 Ashley

How did you spend your Mother's Day?

Recipe: Homemade Pasta

Photo and Recipe: here

If you know anything about me you know that love pretty much any pasta dish. Whenever I eat out I go straight to the pasta selections of the menu with the confidence that you can't screw it up (I was proven wrong last night by a pretty mediocre chicken parm!) I have also taken to whipping up a quick and easy pasta meal with lunch before work. After a discussion with my mother about food and health--these convos happen more often then you would think--I began researching homemade pasta recipes.

I found one on All Recipes that seemed very easy and I can say that for the most part it was. The only real tedious part was cutting the pasta since we don't own a machine to do it for us. This pasta was DELICIOUS! I highly recommend trying it, so here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (I added this since the mixture was originally pretty dry)

What to Do:
- Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the flour and add the egg, mix. Dough should be stiff. If needed add water. Dough will probably still be dry so add olive oil.

- Kneed dough on lightly floured surface for about 3-4 minutes. Roll to desired thinness then cut to desired width (I tried to cut fettuccine sized)

Then you can dress it up how you like. I added olive oil, garlic, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and parmesen cheese. Yum!

<3 Ashley

Are you going to give this a try? What's your favorite pasta dish?

Separate announcement: I was recently invited to create a profile and closet on the site Stylitics. The site compiles trends in the closets of its users to report what people are wearing. You can also shop the closets on the site (including Marilyn Monroe's!) You can click on the widget in my sidebar to check out my closet and explore the site!

Culinary Experiments

Like any sane human being I adore food. Not only does it provide very necessary sustenance, it is also a common denominator in most of the social interactions I enter into. Very rarely is a meet with my friends done outside of a restaurant, coffee shop, or movie theater (popcorn!) But along with the love of such edible delights comes the need to learn how to prepare things beyond the difficulty level of toast.

In college most of the dorm room cooking consists of mixing things with hot water and stirring, microwaves and occasionally a contraband toaster oven. Being in that situation for months and months can do wonders at instilling a desire to use a stove and oven again. Since I've been home I have eaten out a grand total of three times. This is a combination of a few reasons: the looming swimsuit season (Applebee's is not your friend in this scenario!) and the fact that I want to get used to cooking for myself.

In doing so I have discovered some go-to foods that I have a tendency to lean towards and make different variations of: pasta, rice, eggs and the use of na'an (pizza and sandwiches) I don't really have any recipes or anything...I am still at the point where I just find things in the refrigerator that could possibly taste well in the dish. Like today for example. I made the pasta dish pictured above; pasta, spinach, mozzarella, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. I don't even have any measurements for you...that's how off-the-cuff I am with this cooking thing. But one thing I can tell you about this meal is yum!

Are you as ridiculous at cooking as I am? Is there a dish that you've made that was completely improvised?

<3 Ashley

Holiday Recipe: Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is not exactly my favorite part of the dinner. Could it be the fact that I know that it is extremely processed? Maybe the fact that I can practically taste the metal of the can it came in? Either way, since I am helping my mother with the dinner this year, I have been scouring the internet for easy, homemade recipes for everything. Here I stumbled upon a quick (20 minutes!) and easy recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, and the result looks absolutely delicious!

Here's what you need:

- 1 (12 oz) bag of cranberries

- 1 cup of cranberry juice

- 1 cup pure maple syrup (no pancake syrup!!)

- 3 tbsp orange juice

Here's what to do:

1. Wash cranberries in cool water, then put them in a medium saucepan

2. Add the rest of the ingredients into the pan

3. Stir together then put the mixture on high until boiling

4. Once it is boiling, bring it back down to medium low, and continue cooking for 10 minutes or until juice is thick.

5. Turn the stove off, let the sauce cool, and dish it out!

This recipe makes 4 servings

I am very excited to try this recipe out instead of watching the slippery, tubular, processed sauce slide out of the can when I plate it. That can be kind of depressing! Anyway, if you try this out let me know what you think of this recipe! You can find this recipe and others here

<3 Ashley

Holiday Recipe: Mashed Potatoes

I don't know about your household on Thanksgiving but next to the turkey, mashed potatoes are an integral part of the meal. Fits will be thrown if there is not a heaping dish of it within reach. I consider myself to a bit of a potato connoisseur; I have eaten a lot in my day. Here is a recipe I found for you; it is very different from what I have had, but I am pretty interested in trying it!

Here's what you will need:

- 5 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes (this does make 12 servings! So adjust everything as you will!)

- 1/2 cup butter

- 2 cups Parmesan cheese

- 1 cup chopped chives

- 1 1/2 cups cream cheese

- 1/2 medium head of garlic; peeled & minced

- 1 pinch salt and pepper

Here's what to do:

1. Boil a pot of salted water. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm. Drain and return to stove on low heat for 1-2 minutes to dry.

2. Add all of the other ingredients. Mash until potatoes are smooth.

3. Enjoy!

Since my household will be the site of this year's Thanksgiving dinner, my mother has enlisted my help in finding recipes. This one may in fact be a keeper. I do love some cheesy recipes! Check out more recipes here!

<3 Ashley

Hot Apple Cider

There are a few beverages that seem to be essential for the fall/winter season (we'll get to the hot cocoa and 'nog later!) Today I will provide you with a simple recipe for a delicious hot apple cider to enjoy after a day bustling out in the cold to and from classes or work. Know that this is more of a slow-cooker recipe.

Here is what you will need:

- 1 (64 fl oz) bottle of apple cider
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp. whole allspice
- 1 tsp. whole cloves
- 1/3 cup brown sugar

Here's what to do:

In the slow-cooker, combine the apple cider and cinnamon sticks. Wrap allspice and cloves in a small piece of cheesecloth and place into the pot. Stir in the brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and keep warm as you serve. This makes 8 servings, so adjust ingredient amount to your party size.

This sounds yummy, no? Get more recipes at AllRecipes

<3 Ashley

What is your favorite holiday beverage?

Sweet Autumn Salad

Here is a recipe for a Sweet Autumn Salad popping with fall flavors!

Here's what you'll need for this delicious, crisp salad:

- 3 cups of torn mixed greens

- 1/2 a medium red pear, diced

- 4 oz mandarin oranges, drained

- 1/3 cup seedless red grapes, halved

- 1/4 cup dried cranberries

- 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

- 4 1/2 tsp. canola oil

- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

- 1 1/2 tsp. sugar

- 1/8 tsp. salt

- 1/8 tsp. pepper

In a salad bowl, mix the greens, pear, oranges, grapes, cranberries and pecans

Wisk the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper together in a separate bowl. Then pour over the salad and mix together for an even coat. 

Enjoy!

For this recipe and more like it, go to Taste of Home. I hope you enjoy this delicious salad!

<3 Ashley

Autumn Vegetable Soup

As I mentioned yesterday, as part of my (so far great!) attempt at remaining active, I will be posting a autumn recipe everyday in November. In December I will be updating daily with cookie recipes. :) 

As we enter into these colder months, one thing I think of is the image of sitting by the fire with a nice hot bowl of soup watching the leaves fly by, or the snow fall. Soup is usually my go to meal since it is relatively easy to make. Here is a recipe I found for autumn vegetable soup. Here is what you need:

2 Tbs. olive oil 
3 medium carrots, cut into medium dice 
1 large yellow onion, cut into medium dice 
2 medium cloves garlic, minced 
2 cups 1/2-inch-cubed peeled butternut squash (about half a 2-lb. squash) 
1/4 tsp. ground allspice 
Pinch cayenne pepper; more to taste 
Kosher salt 
1 quart lower-salt chicken broth 
1 14.5-oz. can no-salt-added diced tomatoes 
4 sprigs fresh thyme 
2 cups lightly packed, coarsely chopped kale 
1 cup lower-salt canned chickpeas 

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the squash, allspice, cayenne, and 1 tsp. salt and stir to combine. Add the broth, tomatoes with their juice, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the kale and the chickpeas and cook uncovered until the squash is tender and the kale has wilted, about 10 minutes more. Discard the thyme springs before serving. Season to taste with more salt and cayenne.

Credit: Fine Cooking