Monthly Archives: March 2014

Coffee and Cake

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“Hey Kris, Connie invited us over after the meeting on Friday for coffee, can you bake something?” – Mom

My mom always counts on my to come up with something special to bring when we get invited to someone’s home. It also gives me a chance to browse the many recipes I have collected and try something new, sooo I gladly agreed! Although, I sometimes think they just invite me along with my mom because they know there’s a reallllyyy good chance I’ll bake hahaha and I can’t say that they’re wrong because I always do! I quickly ruled out making cookies. This called for a cake!!

You see…I associate cake with having afternoon coffee because it was sort of a tradition that goes wayy back between my mom and grandma. Growing up I was lucky enough to have my grandparents living across the street, and I always remember walking through the door from school and seeing the two of them at the table having coffee with a plate of sweet treats. My mom would then make me do my homework, help my grandma make dinner, then my grandpa would take me to dance and when I got home there was grandma and mom at the kitchen table AGAIN having round #2 of dessert! She and my mom are definitely the reason for my sweet tooth!! Unfortunately, I lost my grandma last year and my grandpa 9 years ago. I sure do miss them sooo much, but we have not stopped our cake and coffee tradition (except for maybe having the occasional cup of tea instead of coffee). So much happened around that kitchen table which is why I treasure those memories, and why I think cooking or baking for someone is such a kind and thoughtful gesture. It really shows someone you care. There’s nothing like gathering around a kitchen table, sharing some sweet treats or a meal and chatting. I can still hear my grandma saying, “I’ll fire up the coffee pot…” =) she had the old fashion percolator one…nothing beats the smell of fresh perked coffee… still makes me smile…

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I decided on making a “Cinnamon Crumb Banana Bread”…banana bread and crumb cake coming together in one dessert? DONE!…I knew I had some very ripe bananas sitting on my counter and after looking at the ingredient list noticed the only thing I didn’t have was buttermilk…no biggie…I would make a quick stop on my way home from work. After dinner, I got to baking… Here’s where I found the recipe… http://littlebitsof.com/2014/02/cinnamon-crumb-banana-bread/

Cinnamon Crumb Banana Bread

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Ingredients

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 overripe bananas, mashed
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

Directions

In a large bowl of a mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, egg and vanilla until combined. Add the butter and beat until smooth and the butter is fully incorporated. Beat in the buttermilk and bananas.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet until all the flour is incorporated. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and pour in the batter.

Make the crumb topping by combining the powdered sugar, flour, cinnamon salt and melted butter. Using your hands, crumble the mixture over the batter in the pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 – 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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This recipe is a keeper! We couldn’t stop slicing away at it… I think I have found my new favorite banana bread recipe!! Any dessert that has huge cinnamon crumbs on top is a winner in my book! Have you ever had Entenmann’s Banana Crunch Cake? Well, that’s exactly what this reminded me of!! I was obsessed with it growing up thanks to my good friend Kristen — she actually confessed to me that when blowing out her birthday candles when she was younger, her secret wish was for that cake!! and now I think of her every time I see that cake! You must try this recipe Kris!! =)  My mom even suggested that the next time we make it perhaps we should drizzle some chocolate over the top!! Quick breads are such a nice treat to have around the house and I will surely be making this one again!

With love and sugar, Kristen xo.

A Taste of Seventh

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How is it Sunday already? The weekends really go by way too fast especially this one since we had to “spring ahead” and set the clocks forward. I can’t wait for the warmer weather and the longer days, but having to wake up for work in the dark is just miserable. Anywayyyy, I was able to participate in a yummy food festival this weekend in NYC! I was originally planning to go into the city this weekend to celebrate my best friend Brittany’s birthday, but she changed the day of her celebration from Saturday to today…wahhhh!!!! I had to be in the St.Patrick’s Day parade today with the dance/kickline/cheer team I coach, so I wasn’t going to be able to attend. (fail) So, I decided that I would still go in on Saturday to celebrate! Now, Brittany knows that whenever I plan a visit to the city I always have a food place in mind that I want to check out, and even though it was technically her birthday weekend and she should be deciding where we go, she still let me pick!!! wahoo!! My originally plan was to get a delicious bowl of ramen, but while scrolling through my twitter feed  a few days ago, I noticed that a food festival was happening this weekend…sooo change in plans, ramen will have to wait…

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The Food Festival was appropriately named “A Taste of 7th” since all the restaurants that were participating were located on 7th street in the East Village, they included: Luke’s Lobster, Caracas Arepa Bar, Porchetta, Wechsler’s, Oaxaca Taqueria, Big Gay Ice Cream and Butter Lane. What I love about these types of events is that you are able to sample lots of delicious food all at once. This crawl consisted of a few places that I had been wanting to try so I was really excited! Lucky for us, it was a beautiful, sunny, and cool day in the city so we walked from Britt’s apartment, besides, we knew we would need the walk after all the food!

Our first stop was Luke’s Lobster. There was a long line, but it moved rather quick. Once we got to the front of the line, we had to give our name and present the ticket confirmation I printed out which I frantically thought I miss placed like 100 times throughout the day haha.

We were given the cutest little lobster roll I have EVER seen! Side Note: I have never had a lobster roll, and can’t even remember the last time I’ve actually had lobster, too much work, I know, sorry…

IMG_2621All I can say is WOW! They piled it  high with A LOT of lobster. It was so fresh tasting and just simply seasoned, but what brought it all together was the toasted bun with butter! No one flavor over powered the other, keeping the lobster the star ingredient. I could really get used to eating lobster like this!!! I didn’t have a chance to read through their menu, but they offer many different lobster roll varieties.

Stop number 2 was Caracas Arepa Bar which was just next door. We gave our name at took a seat at the bar and we were presented with this masterpiece!

IMG_2622I had heard about Caracas on various food shows and was happy to finally check it off my list. An arepa is native to Venezuela and it has a very mellow but sweet flavor with a soft pillowy interior and a crisp exterior, so good! Being that it was a food crawl, most places do not allow you pick from the menu, but that’s usually fine because they most likely are giving you their signature or most popular item from the menu. This was the “La Mamasita Arepa” with grilled mushrooms, roasted corn, sweet plantains and the works. Most of the food on this food crawl was meat so it was nice to see a vegetarian option. The filling was A-MAZ-ING!! I loved the plantains and anything with avocado cream is good in my book. I was actually a little full at this point, but we had only just begun…Stop 3: Porchetta

IMG_2624Porchetta was serving up their Italian roast pork sandwich with crispy skin which was featured in Time Out New York’s 100 best dishes and now I know why! The pork had sooooo much flavor and was super tender. My brother would totally flip over this sandwich. I need to take him here. On to the next stop…we headed up the block to Wechsler’s. Britt is heading to Austria next week so this was a good way to get her prepared for the food she would be eating while there.

They were serving their pork bratwurst with curry ketchup and fries. Not what I would usually go out and order, but that’s another great thing about a food crawl, trying new things. I obviously went right for the french fries and polished those off in no time. I took a few pieces of the bratwurst to try and I liked it!! I enjoyed the combination with the curry ketchup. My belly was definitely full at this point but we still had tacos and dessert left!! (oyyy)

IMG_2625The last food stop was Oaxaca Taqueria. We were given the option of either having a taco or mini burrito. I decided on a chicken taco and Britt went with mini chicken burrito. Both yummy…the taco had all the great flavors that I look for, but sadly we only took a few bites…we had dessert on the brain…

IMG_2626Next to cookies, Ice Cream is my second favorite dessert. Big Gay Ice Cream is well known by all New Yorkers as having awesome  soft serve ice cream combinations with fun and silly names. This was the stop I was waiting for allll day ! They were serving the Apple Gobbler, a vanilla sundae with grahams, bourbon butterscotch, apple butter and whipped cream. It was like the most delicious apple pie swirled into creamy vanilla soft serve. YUM! but we still had one more dessert stop left…

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…Butter Lane. We decided to take our cupcakes to go since I had entered into a serious food coma! They let us have our choice of their 6 most popular cupcake flavors. Britt and I both went with the Salted Caramel. So, with full bellies…we made the walk back to Britt’s.

7th Street is one tasty block. I highly recommend heading over there if you have a chance!

We did eventually have those cupcakes. They had a classic, homemade taste and had just the right amount of frosting to cake. very important.  It was a perfect “taste” to end a day of eating. Happy Birthday, BB!!!

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With love and sugar, Kristen xo.

Fat Tuesday Calls For Fat Brownies!

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Happy Fat Tuesday!!!

I thought about sharing my trip to New Orleans today, but I’ll save that for #tbt because I realized I owe you guys a recipe, and do I have a show stopper…and you might want to get out your stretchy pants because I make no promises that you will be able to refrain yourself from eating the entire batch!

Now, I know how easy brownies can be to make from scratch and I always have all the ingredients, but I also make sure to have a box ( yea, you heard me, a box!) of my favorite brownie mix. There is nothing wrong with taking a short cut, especially if you need dessert in a pinch. After many years, my go to mix is Ghirardelli. It taste the closest to many homemade recipes I have tried.

I remember last year coming across many recipes for “the brookie” or “crownie” half brownie/half chocolate chip cookie (hellloooo best dessert ever) which emulated the wonderful dessert, The Brookster, that Baked NYC introduced to the world a few years ago and now thanks to Pinterest I stumbled upon a recipe that has now gone viral that took the brookie up…….another notch! (insert Emeril Lagasse Voice)

I give you, “The Slutty Brownie” which sandwiches Oreos between layers of Fudgy Brownie and Chocolate Chip Cookie…oh, you naughty brownie you 😉

What is so great about this recipe is that I use A LOT of help from the store. My Ghirardelli boxed brownie mix, a roll of Toll House cooke dough (you know you still love it too!) and a package of Oreos. The only extra ingredients you need are what’s required for mixing up the brownie mix. I promise you that you will make instant friends wherever you bring these brownies!!

Slutty Brownies

Ingredients

1 Box of your favorite Brownie Mix, prepared as directed

1 roll of cookie dough

1 package of Oreos (maybe even a few left over for eating!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Make brownie batter according the package. Set aside. Grease glass 9×13 dish and press cookie dough on bottom. Line your Oreo cookies in the pan. Pour the brownie batter on top. Bake in oven for 45 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

I have some pretty exciting recipes and food adventures coming up that I can’t wait to share! One of my bestest friends, Brittany, is celebrating her birthday this weekend so I will be heading into NYC for birthday celebrating and a food crawl!!! The next few weeks will also be busy with writing report cards and other school commitments, but I will do my best to bring you some tasty treats!

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With Love and Sugar, Kristen xo.