July | 2009 | strawberries in paris

Spicy Spicy Cafe Spice

July 31, 2009 at 11:23 am | Posted in Dinner, Travels | 2 Comments

Two Friday’s ago before I left for Vermont, Ned and I were craving some Indian food after seeing this article in the Sun. Since I still had to pack, I picked the closest Indian restaurant to my abode and boy did we choose well! Cafe Spice was homey and comfortable and had delicious food!

The owner and owner’s family were so welcoming and helpful with our selections. My tastebuds certainly got woken up and I was so thankful! Now I can certainly attest to the fact that I have no serious experience eating Indian food and therefore can’t really say if this is better than any other Indian cuisine, but I liked it alot! Check out our selections below.

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Berry Picking in Charlotte, VT!

July 29, 2009 at 9:42 am | Posted in Dessert, Entertainment, Travels | 3 Comments

On one slightly humid afternoon last week, Mom, Auntie Catherine, Caroline and I went off in search of delicious fruit! Fortunately for us, there was a farm (Charlotte Berry Farm) 10 minutes away from the lake house and boy was it bountiful!

I have never gone berry picking for blueberries or raspberries and I was suprised how easy it was! I think mom took us strawberry picking a long time ago, and I’ve done my share of raspberry picking from my apartment and on the road, but those bushes seemed to be very prickly! This was a much more pleasant experience, check out my pictures below…

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July Daring Baker’s Challenge: Chocolate Cookies!

July 27, 2009 at 8:51 am | Posted in Daring Bakers, Dessert | 11 Comments

My eyes lit up and stomach started growling the minute I read this challenge! I love mallow cookies and milano cookies and was so excited to concoct these babies!! So I actually only got around to making the first kind of cookie with Super Scotty, but they turned out actually incredibly delectable and all two dozen were promptly eaten within 60 minutes of me announcing they were up for grabs in VT!

Baking on vacation isn’t necessarily ideal (cause of my busy schedule of sunning, reading and feasting!), but boy were they delicious and everyone was impressed.
The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

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Summer Squash Pasta

July 14, 2009 at 9:07 am | Posted in Cookbooks, Dinner, Entertainment | 9 Comments

This is my new favorite delicious mass feeding summer recipe! I had my college girlfriends over last Wednesday and in addition to some Trader Joe’s truffle flatbread and the tomato watermelon gazpacho, we feasted on this dish!

So this recipe is the other one I pulled from Tyler’s Ultimate cookbook for my impromptu dinner party hosted for the occasion of Erica’s one day trip to MD! This is quite a tasty way to bring some fresh and bright squash flavors into your diet. And the arugula and roasted tomatoes were nice texture and flashy flavor contrasts!
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Tomato Watermelon Gazpacho

July 9, 2009 at 9:16 am | Posted in Cookbooks, Dinner | 8 Comments

Laurita was a little skeptical when I started making this at 10:00 on Sunday night, but she went along with it and even helped destroy the watermelon! Thanks Laurita! But wow this turned out great and the fact that all it took was a little bit of chop work and use of a blender sold me for sure!

I don’t think I ever made something so delicious and elegant that required no cooking! The sweetness of the watermelon is offset by the tangy red onion and flavorful dill and all the flavors really sing with the tomato base! This recipe comes from Tyler Florence and I am so happy that I am peering into that cookbook more frequently every day. He does great seasonal dishes.

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Oh Happy Day!

July 7, 2009 at 10:07 am | Posted in Dessert, Entertainment | 2 Comments

So yesterday I felt energized enough to try to make it to the apartment pool right after I got home from work and before I made dinner! The pool you see, is very good for helping to recuperate my knee! Well I wobbled over to the top of the hill to peer down to see if it was open and as I walked closer, whatever did I see, but some red dots adorning some bushes! After closer inspection I deduced that those were not just any ol red dots, they were FRESH RASPBERRIES!! 😀 Check out one of the bushes right here.

So this post has nothing to do with me cooking anything, but I daresay this will probably be the food highlight of my week, (that and my amazing soup that I made, stay tuned for Thursday!)

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Ina’s Honey Vanilla Pound Cake for the 4th!

July 4, 2009 at 8:21 am | Posted in Dessert, Entertainment | 10 Comments

On Sunday I was craving some kind of dessert and realized how beautiful the berries looked in Wegmans! I got three kinds and then picked up some marscapone cheese. Conveniently on the package for the cheese is some pairing suggestions, and one in particular struck my fancy: honey!

So on Monday and Tuesday I paired those scrumptious berries with the honey-marscapone concoction and was pleasantly delighted with my delicious dessert! But then Ina snuck in… Laurita left the Back to Basics on the coffee table and I went perusing and found this recipe! The lure of being able to use honey and my vanilla beans made this an obvious choice and something extra delicious to pair with the berries and marscapone!

So Happy 4th of July everyone! Hope you are celebrating with some good eats!

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A Hop, Skip and a Jump to G&M

July 1, 2009 at 10:38 am | Posted in Dinner, Travels | 7 Comments

A couple of Sundays ago, Ned stranded himself at the airport for a couple hours (keys in checked bag that did not accompany his flight! :-o). Since he was starving and I was very much looking forward to eating dinner with him, I suggested that I swing by and pick him up and then voyage over to the airport’s closest restaurant! G&M! Lucky for us the wait wasn’t too long and the crabcakes were pretty darn good.

It’s always an interesting thing hearing from Baltimore natives as to where they feel they get the best crabcake! I think Faidley’s may still have our #1 choice, with G&M in close second! Where is your favorite place? Check out the monster below!

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