Ladies Night

This past Friday I had a girls night with my friend Camila. We worked out, ate pizza, went to the spa, I had my first table massage, ate wine and cheese, and fell asleep to a movie. It was pure bliss and we hit total relaxation. The next morning she was still willing to put up with me and we had a lovely brunch with mimosas and crusty bread.

 

This lady made my weekend fabulous.

Bowling

 

We went bowling with small group the other week and discovered we're all mostly terrible. We had quite a bit of fun though and lucky us the Olympics was on while we were there too. Not much in the way of strategy for any of us (the boys had some) but lots of high fives and cheering. I even got 2 strikes :)

These people make my heart happy!

Hubs Birthday!!

Today is Joshua's 26th birthday!

 

 

so Cheers to Joshua - my heart, my person, the man who humbles me and builds me up. This past year I have grown to appreciate what we are so much more and appreciate what you are capable of and where your heart is growing. To me you really are the best everything. Happy birthday Hubs!

Pomegranate Chocolate Tart

This tart was quite simple to make but packed a lot of juicy flavor.
Plus the glossy top makes it look so fancy!

Pomegranate Chocolate Tart:
Recipe from here

Tart Shell:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
8 tbs butter; cubed
1 egg
2 tbs ice water

1   in a food processor mix flour, almonds, salt and sugar together
     until combined and almonds are in small pieces
2   then beat in the butter
3   mix in the egg and 1 tbs ice water
4   if the dough is still too dry add in the other tbs ice water
5   wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes
6   preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease tart tin
7   press dough into tart tin and up sides, cover with parchment paper
     and poke a bottom with a fork a few times
8   add in pie weights (or coins or dried beans) and bake for 15 minutes


Chocolate Filling:
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
3 tbs sugar
1 tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt

1   place chocolate chips and heavy cream in a pot and then over a double broiler
     (or place the pot in a saucepan with water in it)
2   melt the chocolate in the cream and stir often
3   then remove from heat and mix in eggs, sugar, flour and salt
4   pour filling into tart shell and bake for 30 minutes

Pomegranate Glaze:
2 cups pomegranate juice
3 tbs sugar
pomegranate seeds for garnish

1   in a saucepan heat juice and sugar over medium heat
2   simmer for 15-20 minutes (juice should thicken to about 1/2 cup)
3   remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes
4   then pour over tart
5   top with pomegranate seeds

(I stored mine in the fridge for about a week-partially eaten of course)

Valentine's Day Gnocchi

 

 

My friend Liz came over on Valentine's Day and we made some beet gnocchi from this recipe. It was fun to mash it all up and see how they turned out. We discovered we're not gnocchi masters but we had a good time and sipped champagne while we did it. We topped ours with browned butter and truffle salt mmm

It was a lovely Valentine's Day!

Snowing

 

Seattle finally got snow. Now I know everyone in Cincinnati is scoffing but we're excited. It was like an inch and it only lasted a day but Saturday night it was beautiful. I was all the way out in West Seattle at a Lord of the Rings Marathon (naturally) and luckily someone was kind enough to drive me back home, but the drive was so pretty.

The snowflakes wafting through peaks of light and dusting my scarf. Ah it was a moment of bliss!

I didn't take very good photos of it but I do have proof :)

Lemon Basil Cupcakes with Kumquat Glaze

 

I had kumquats left over from a rhubarb kumquat tart and decided they'd pair well with a basil cupcake I've been wanting to try out.

These were a big hit at work. They are great because they aren't a super sweet cupcake instead they have a little tang. Plus the little candied kumquats on top are the cutest!

Sadly I was not on top of my game when I was baking I put the batter in cupcake papers and then realized I'd never added the eggs & I dumped the sugar glaze all over the floor at one point - but after they were done I decided they were still worth it! They are really delicious!!!

Lemon Basil Cupcakes

2 1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter; room temp
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup agave (or another cup of sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 tbs basil; finely chopped or I used cubes of frozen basil
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup buttermilk

preheat oven 350 degrees F

1   in a bowl mix flour, baking powder and soda, salt
2   in another bowl beat butter until light and fluffy
3   beat in sugar, agave and vanilla
4   one at a time mix in the eggs
5   then alternate 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 buttermilk, and so on mixing lightly
     until they are all incorporated
6   spoon 1/4 cup batter into cupcake liners and bake for 13-16 minutes, toothpick
     should come out clean


Lemon Frosting:

1 cup butter; room temp
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tbs lemon juice


1   beat butter until light and fluffy
2   beat in vanilla
3   mix in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time
4   mix in 2 tbs lemon juice, if needed add in more 1 tbs at a time

Candied Kumquats & Glaze

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
6-8 kumquats; thinly sliced
1 tbs basil; finely chopped or I used cubes of frozen basil

1   bring water in sugar to a boil in a small saucepan
2   add in sliced kumquat and basil
3   simmer for 10 minutes
4   with a slotted spatula remove the kumquats and place on parchment paper
5   save the glaze, I put mine in a squeeze bottle to easily top the cupcakes with

to assemble:
1   pipe lemon frosting on cupcakes
2   drizzle glaze over them (the more the better)
3   top with a candied kumquat

Snowshoeing Season

 

Last weekend we grabbed our friend Liz and went snowshoeing. We never made it out this year so we were really excited to go. We went to Gold Creek. Sadly we couldn't get all the way to the top because the snow got really deep and it started dumping cold windy snowflakes all over us, but on the hike back down the sun broke through and we got to frolic in its rays for awhile. Overall a very fun hike and nice to get out in the snow.

Joshua eating snow as usual

 

 

we brought along the ice axes we got for Christmas, just because

the trees were beautiful and sometimes very dr. suess

Superbowl

 

Well Seahawks won the Superbowl and Seattle went CRAZY!  Burning couches in the street, honking and ignoring crosswalks all night (big deal here). And today is the parade which happens to be on the street right below my building. 24 floors up and we can hear the crowd roaring! People began gathering 4 hours before the parade and it's pretty insane down here. Expecting upt to 700,000 people for the parade. The players are riding the Duck buses down the street :)

 

 

Also so far I've received free- skittles, 2 coffees, donut and a 12 cent cookie :)

I'm still a Bengals girl but it sure has been interesting to be in a city as it all developed. I'm a little over it at this point but love seeing a city come together!