Gardens

Mr. E. cleared out a small area of dirt next to our apartment and planted our first vegetable garden. The plants smell wonderful and we are so excited to reap the rewards of his hard work in a few weeks... The first photo is of peppers and brussel sprouts, the second photo is eggplant and the third photo is of our killer tomatoes!

Lemon Meringue Pie

A few months ago we were all obsessed with March Madness, including me and Mr. E. We both filled out a bracket and whoever lost had to do something for the loser... If I won I wanted a hand and foot massage from Mr. E and if he won, he wanted me to bake him a lemon meringue pie. For those of you who don't already know this, I am not a big fan of lemons and limes other than as a spritz or slice in a beverage (refreshing!). I think that the worst desserts out there are ones than involve these two fruits i.e. Lemon Meringue Pie and Key Lime Pie-yuck! I know that I am definitely in the minority here but what this means is that Mr. E NEVER gets to eat these desserts because I will not make them, nor will I share them if he orders one at a restaurant. Therefore this was a pretty big bet for the two of us... well, unfortunately I choose Memphis to win it all so I was eliminated pretty early on in the tournament and so today's post is on Lemon Meringue Pie...my first and only time making these sweet treat.

PS. I would be happy to make this for my love for his birthday but he loves fresh fruit pies homemade by his wonderful mother each year...Oh, and if you really want the recipe, let me know.

Mmm.... Strawberries

We live in a small town surrounded on all sides by farms.... miles and miles of farms. Summer is the best season in our town for many reasons but also because of the bounty that our farms provide. I have been searching for a pick-your-own ORGANIC strawberry farm (the pesticides reside in the skin of the fruit so any fruit or veggie that you consume from a non-organic farm will have a larger amount of pesticides if you plan to eat the skin on the fruit or vegetable). Unfortunately I could not find a local pick-your-own farm but I did find a farm about 10 minutes down the road from us that had organic strawberries. Strawberry season can be short and I was just so impressed with the beauty of her fruit that I bought 6 quarts... Now what am I going to make will all those berries....

PS. If you would like to find a pick-your-own farm near your home, check out this website http://www.pickyourown.org/

Homemade Pasta

I know, I know... I have been MIA for nearly two months and one of my friends here in O-town actually missed my posts... how lovely!!
Well it has been a busy month and Mr. E. and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Italy. One of our favorite foods from the trip (besides the Mascarpone and Nuttella gelato every night!) was the homemade pasta and I just knew that I had to learn that skill upon our return. After some investigating (thank you sister-in-law Mrs. E.), i was encouraged to purchase the Prago pasta machine which latches onto your countertop and costs quite a few Benjamins less than the KitchenAid pasta attachment. I decided that this weekend would be the perfect time to break out the pasta machine and learn the ancient art of making pasta.

Thank you Cake

This afternoon we are having a thank-you lunch for all of our student interns here in the office as they will be finishing up the semester in a few weeks. I decided to make a chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate pudding in the center and decorate the cake to look like a family tree--these students are part of the intern family! I liked how it turned out but it really took a long time to make! However, in the end it was worth it... Onto Cake Decorating 3 later this month--we are learning fondant!

Gazpacho

What's better than a cold soup with fresh vegetables and topped with parmesan croutons when the weather begins to heat up? Not much, which is why this lovely soup hit the spot and even better is that the soup is actually healthy. Luckily (or unluckily for Mr. E.) this soup made about 10 servings so there was enough to serve it as a side dish each night for dinner this week and it met nearly all of our vegetable requirements for the day!

NYC Restaurant Reviews Continued

Restaurant Review #2
After my final meeting of the day I took the subway back to lower Manhattan and decided to find something to eat in between the subway and my hotel which luckily led me right through Soho. As most of my friends and family are aware, Mr. E. and I spent our honeymoon in Espana and we love Espanish food! So when I stumbled across Boqueria (www.boquerianyc.com), I could not have been more excited. Boqueria means market in Spanish and this was a Spanish tapas restaurant. In tapas style I had the house salad with parmesan shavings, a house vinaigrette, snap peas and croutons. I also had to sample their patatas bravas which are essentially salty/spicy hash browns drizzled with a spicy sauce. These would have gone beautifully with a Spanish beer but alone they were a bit salty for my liking. However, the tapas that my waiter suggested took the prize. Almond and Bleu Cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. I could not have been a happier customer.

Restaurant Review #3
During my travels this week I was able to coordinate my work schedule with that of an old high school friend. She suggested we meet at a Mediterranean restaurant near her office in Midtown. As noted in the above review, I am a big fan of food from this part of our world. Ammas has a beautiful interior with nearly a full wall covered in bottles of wine (of which we did not partake as it was lunch and I was going to be a meeting with hundreds of seventeen year-olds). For our lunch we shared an appetizer of spreads with pita and for lunch we both had a greek salad with grilled chicken. The spreads were fine—typical of these kinds of restaurants, satisfying but they did not blow my mind. The salad however, was filled with ripe (rare, I know!) red and yellow tomatoes, generous squares of feta cheese, a few lovely black olives as well as slices of purple onion and cucumber. The grilled chicken was the perfect accompaniment to move the salad from just a salad to an entrée. The meal was wonderful and I would go back again… however, it was on the pricey side so be prepared.