CarmEmily

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  Emilily 8:47 pm on December 8, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: muffins, recipe   

  muffins! 

  I tried another bran muffin recipe this past weekend, and they turned out pretty delicious. I got the recipe from Dylan’s mom Irene – she sent some home with him after Thanksgiving, and I think I ate about 4 a day until they were gone!

  The (modified) recipe was originally from this great blog, Farmgirl Fare. It’s by this woman who one day packed up her California lifestyle and moved out to a remote, 280-acre farm in the middle of Nowhere, Missouri. I think I can relate to packing everything up and embarking on a new adventure! I also like the name of her blog, because it reminds me of The Princess Bride (Farmboy) although I doubt this has any relation to her blog at all. Anyways, there are a ton of healthy recipes, pictures of her farm animals, and a smattering of gardening tips and photos. I think this weekend I might try a batch of these blueberry breakfast bars, but with persimmons instead, since they’re weighing down the trees in the front yard.

   

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  Carmen 11:26 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: breakfast ( 4 ), recipe   

  Eggs en Cocotte 

  I love breakfast. (ok, and lunch and dinner) I’ve been trying to perfect Eggs en Cocotte for years now and I still can’t make it perfectly but it has gotten better over years at least.  I fail better at it nowadays. Its takes a long time to make but the end result is so cute and yummy that it makes it worth it – most of the time… unless you mess it up and then breakfast becomes a frustrating event that makes me want to cry.  Aaannyways, today was successful.  You can make it with alot of different ingredients.  Today I chose leeks, but in the past I have made it with bacon and onions or mushrooms or fennel – you could get imaginative.

  Chop the leeks up real fine and saute them for about 15 minutes (do not burn them like I did!).  Grate a little bit of nutmeg into the leeks while they’re cooking, add salt and pepper.  Then put the leeks into buttered ramekins, crack a couple of eggs in each one, add salt and pepper.  Then put the ramekins in a casserole dish and pour boiling water into the casserole dish to surround the ramekins, and then put it in the oven!  Half way through put some parmesan cheese (or gruyere) on there.  I think it takes about 20 minutes at 375 degrees but its kind of something you need to decide on by watching it, its tricky.  Sometimes the center will still be runny while the rest is perfectly done.  I like to take it out at that point and finish it up in the microwave for about 20 seconds.  Voila!  (one thing I would change is maybe to cook it in the broiler (if you have one, which I don’t) so the cheese gets nice and toasty)

  

  

   
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  Emilily 1:04 pm on October 3, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: recipe, snacks ( 2 )   

  marshmallows! 

  

  So I decided to try making my own marshmallows for this camping trip, since I don’t really like store-bought marshmallows, but I love the whole s’mores ritual. I did some online research, and read some cooks’ reviews, and finally found a recipe I decided to try my hand at. It turned out brilliantly! Rather than re-print the recipe (which I don’t think I can do anyways) I will just refer you to the Smitten Kitchen’s marshmallow post. Her writing and pictures are almost too perfect to even try and replicate, just check it out, it is a lovely blog. (And like she mentions, these are probably the messiest things ever, it is like making tar…tar that is tempting you with its sugary aroma to lick the beater, to stick your fingr in the bowl for just a taste…needless to say, marshmallow is difficult to get out of hair.)

  Here is how I made my yummy and melt-in-your-mouth sweet and sticky marshmallows. And here is a question for you – how would you describe a marshmallow to an alien without sounding like you were talking dirty?!

  

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    Carmen 4:56 pm on October 4, 2009 Permalink

    I’m really amazed that you are trying to tackle something as weird as marshmallows. I didn’t even know what marshmallows were made out of until now. Can you imagine the person who invented it? Probably alot of trial and error…………….well, after a little research… turns out, as I’m sure you knew, original Marshmallows come from the mucilaginous root of the Althaea officinalis plant. I’m pretty sure mucilaginous means a sticky consistency, high viscosity. The root of the plant was used for sore throats and other parts of the plant were used for all kinds of medicines. That is, until they figured out that sugar is the best medicine. Thus, the confectioners delight was invented. And thats exactly what I would say to the Aliens.

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  Emilily 12:48 pm on October 2, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: dinner ( 2 ), recipe   

  buon appetito! 

  So, as you know, I am car camping in Joshua Tree this weekend, which is apparently a far cry from the Survivor-esque backpacking we did when I was a kid. I remember tramping through the mountains with a 50lb backpack, eating little packages of freeze-dried astronaut food, and spending countless hours packing my tent and sleeping bag into ridiculously tiny waterproof bags. This weekend will be different – a little more civilized, I suspect. I’ve packed my french press, for starters!

  Anyways, we designed a menu about a week ago, and everyone was responsible for a few meals. The fare includes corn cakes with preserves, Mia’s dad’s fresh french bread, cherry pie, grilled sausage sandwiches, a full English breakfast spread, and my home-made marinara sauce, below!

  

  I may have mentioned it before, but I have a mild obsession with making pasta sauce. I LOVE pasta sauce. The pasta itself, I could take it or leave it. But a good pasta sauce, just give me a spoon and I’m happy…well, some chianti wouldn’t hurt, either. My sauce is pretty basic, with some exceptions – I like to use heirloom tomatoes, I think they have a richer flavor, and I use a dark brown molasses sugar instead of….well, I don’t know what kind of sugar a traditional marinara has, but I think it has some?

  (p.s. I have to apologize for the picture quality, my little kitchen is dark and cave-like, especially at night.)

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    Carmen 4:42 pm on October 4, 2009 Permalink

    This looks delicious! How long do you cook it for?

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    Emilily 12:35 pm on October 6, 2009 Permalink

    You cook it for…ages, and then some. The longer it simmers, the richer it tastes and the better your kitchen smells. But add the caramelized onions at the end, otherwise they turn to mush and overwhelm all the other herbs. Also, I save about half of the basil and toss it in at the very end. (The other herbs I use are italian parsley and oregano, both fresh, and a few generous pinches of red pepper flakes.)

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  Carmen 2:24 pm on September 14, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: recipe, snacks ( 2 )   

  Speaking of food… 

  Here is my cute little snack!  I made some carrot bread since I’m home sick today. (My first carrot bread)  It turned out pretty good I have to admit.  It goes well with tea.

  

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    Emilily 3:27 pm on September 14, 2009 Permalink

    Oh that looks delicious!

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  Carmen 9:51 pm on August 20, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cocktails ( 5 ), recipe   

  The Communist… 

  Time for a nice cocktail!  Behold – the Communist!

  1 oz Gin

  1 oz Orange Juice

  1/2 oz Cherry Brandy

  3/4 Lemon Juice

  

  Delicious!

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    Emilily 12:27 pm on August 21, 2009 Permalink

    The Communist? I would have thought a Communist should have vodka or rum in it. Or maybe be red. Or maybe it is a Communist because you were supposed to give half of it to me!

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  Carmen 12:39 pm on August 9, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: breakfast ( 4 ), croque madame, recipe   

  Sunday Project: Croque Madame… 

  I decided to try this recipe this morning.  Here’s how it went:

  

  The conslusion is that it tasted pretty darn good!

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    Emilily 12:53 pm on August 10, 2009 Permalink

    That looks tasty! You really can’t go wrong with grilled cheese.

    For my Sunday project, here is a random fact about the croque madame, and my own weekend baking project.

    The name of your yummy breakfast is from the french verb croquer, or to crunch. It is a good thing the sandwich is french, because croque monsieur and croque madame both sound far more appetizing than mr. and mrs. crunch. Also, in what seems like an unexpected move from the french, among the many variations they have on the sandwich is the croque McDo, which, as you guessed, is the McDonald’s version. Ug.

    I was at my grandma’s this weekend, and used the opportunity to bake in a real oven! It was my second attempt at the Arcata Co-op’s Atomic Bran Muffin recipe. Ashley got the recipe for me last Christmas, and the first time I made it, it turned out good, but not exactly like I was expecting. I tried it again, following the recipe to the letter, and again ended up with a really good bran muffin, but not the Atomic bran muffin. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that they have a real baker’s oven? Or, as I suspect, there is some secret ingredient that was left out of my copy of the recipe!

    

    And look! I added a picture to a reply!!!
    Also, why is your post marked “sticky”? What does that mean?

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    Emilily 1:07 pm on August 10, 2009 Permalink

    And I love your use of the project template! What did you think of it? I hope it was okay to work with! Maybe I can make a version that has 6 squares all lined up so you don’t have that alignment problem with the two images….

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  Carmen 4:06 am on July 22, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cocktails ( 5 ), recipe   

  A test of blogging skills, i’ll change this title later… 

  So, Max and I have a lasting fancy for old fashioned cocktails.  We try to pick different ones and make them.  Tonight it was “The Corpse Reviver”!

  

  Corpse Reviver

  It involves gin…

  

  Hendricks

  Lillet (blanc)…

  

  Lovely Lillet

  Little lemon juice…

  

  lemony

  a bit of cointreau…

  

  Cointreau

  A large shaker, well, i guess it doesn’t have to be large but thats how we like it.  and a maraschino cherry at the bottom…

  

  oh yeah

  and here’s the final product! except i am bad at focusing in the right spot – dangit!  It was pretty tasty!

  

  drink it!