May 27th, 2010
Perhaps I was a little too confident after my Macaroon Success but this time it did not go as smoothly. Do not let these pretty little macaroons deceive you… I managed to make four nice macaroons… after a lot of frustration with the pastry bag and the batter consistency… I almost threw it all out but Juan had an ingenious idea to help so I was able to slightly salvage this batch…
I made Chocolate Macaroons with Dulce de Leche filling. I did not diligently sift the almond flour mixture as much as I did last time… won’t do that again… Also, this time, I folded one too many times… a little flatter then I want… However, my biggest problem was using the wrong pastry bag tip… the batter kept getting stuck and came out all strange… oh well… I’ll know better for next time… this weekend?
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May 25th, 2010
I had mushrooms in the fridge… a little mozzarella… I remembered the two different types of mushroom flatbread that I tried at Sable and the Wit with @chicagobites… both were quite delicious… so I thought I would try my own…
I sauteed mushrooms and two sliced garlic cloves in a little olive oil, mixed about 1 teaspoon of thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red peppers and some salt. I made thin crust pizza dough and spread on some Bechamel Sauce in which I had melted about 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, spread the mushrooms and some more mozzarella. Baked at 475 for about 12 minutes until the cheese was all melted. It was very good… next time… wild mushrooms…
With the other half of the pizza dough, I made a Balsamic Onion and Artichoke Pizza. I spread Bechamel sauce, topped with balsamic onions, artichokes and mozzarella… another success!
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May 23rd, 2010
Last fall, Juan sent me an email that his 10,000th day birthday is May 21, 2010 and mine is December 28, 2011… I love randomness and celebrating quirky days (we did celebrate Valentine’s on Flag Day last year) so I put the dates on my calendar…
of course, as the date got closer I did not know what to do… luckily, I was in town but Juan had been saying how he was sick of sweets (yes, he’s odd) so no cupcakes… He loves my quiches though so I made little breakfast “cupcake” quiches. I couldn’t find the cupcake holders anywhere…hence the improvisation but they tasted good and Juan loved them…
but that was just the beginning of my plan (can you tell I’ve had a lot of time on my hands since school ended?)… while Juan was at work, I hung this awesome half-homemade banner… and I made dinner…
Now, I would have made this dinner regardless of any special occasion. I have this very elaborate idea for a dinner party but it involves some techniques that I have not mastered… such as handrolling pasta…
My first pasta attempt was not very successful (hence, it never made it up here) but this time I used this pasta recipe and was very pleased with the results. I couldn’t find the rolling pin (it isn’t my kitchen and sometimes it is hard to find things!) so instead I used a SIGG. It worked great and, of course, I promptly found the rolling pin after I finished.
I let the pasta dry for about an hour and put it in the fridge until dinner time. I served it with Sun-dried Tomatoes Pesto with Slow Roasted Tomatoes. I added some more garlic to the pesto and a few of the slow roasted tomatoes. It was really good… Juan said the best part was the pasta…
So, yes, it was a very successful 10,000th day birthday celebration… plus, I feel more comfortable with my pasta technique… next, mastering Carolina BBQ…
Filed under Eggs, Flour, Garlic, Pasta, Thyme, Tomato Sauce, Tomatos | Comments (3)
