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December 24, 2011
December 02, 2011
November 30, 2011
Answers To Nothing
Answers To Nothing is coming to theaters this weekend!!! ATN is a film I'm in with the fabulous Dane Cook, Elizabeth Mitchell, Julie Benz, Erik Palladino, Miranda Bailey, and Barbara Hershey. Aja Volkman (lead singer of all time fav band Nico Vega) is also in it singing some incredible music!
It's the little independent movie that could! We've all worked so hard on it and it's finally getting out there for the world to see! Check out the official Answers To Nothing website for exact times and places where the movie is playing. Please, please, please go see it to support independent films (and it's really good!!).
I'll be going to screening of it this weekend in NYC so if you are in the city, follow me on twitter to see which ones I'll be at!
Thanks so much in advance and PLEASE share with your friends!
Here is the trailer (If you watch really carefully you can spot me in my scene with Elizabeth Mitchell):
November 29, 2011
Peanut Butter Chews
Just what you need is another sweet recipe right?! But this one is super yummy and I know you'll enjoy it over the holidays!!
I made this old family recipe this past weekend with my Mom. It was so much fun spending so much time in the kitchen with her and my Grandmother! I love the holidays!
Peanut Butter Chews
Makes 12 squares
What you'll need:
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
What you'll do:
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the coconut
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Then add in the eggs, peanut butter and vanilla. Blend with mixer.
Blend the flour and creamed mixtures together. Spread into greased 9”X13” baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Glaze when cool with ½ cup powdered sugar mixed with a little water. Let harden and cut into squares.
November 28, 2011
Grandma's Orange Kiss-Me Cake
So, have you recovered from Thanksgiving yet? I'm on my way, but still full! While I was down home with my family, I talked to my Mom a lot about family recipes. She remembered this orange cake recipe that her Mother used to make all the time, we found the recipe and decided we had to make it. Seriously, this cake explodes with flavor! It is delicious and I would say just perfect for the holiday season! I did change it up a little to make it vegan. At the bottom of the post I'll give you the vegan and "normal" printer friendly options. I hope you enjoy as much as we do.
Grandma's Orange Kiss-Me Cake
What you'll need:
1 large orange, squeezed and juice reserved for topping
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup walnuts
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature or earth balance
3/4 cup milk or soy milk
2 eggs or 2 very ripe bananas smashed
topping:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
What you'll do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
In a food processor, grind the orange (after it's juiced has been squeezed), raisins, and walnuts until blended, but still chunky. Pour into a large bowl.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter until smooth and add in the milk. Working in three batches add in the dry ingredients and beat for two minutes.
Add the eggs or bananas and beat an additional 2 minutes.
Fold in the orange, raisin, nut mixture.
Pour into a well greased 9 inch spring form pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
When the cake is done and still warm, pour the 1/2 cup orange juice over the cake. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts in a bowl and sprinkle over the top.
Let cool and serve.
Vegan Printer Friendly Version
"Normal" Printer Friendly Version
November 25, 2011
A "Leftover" Tart
Ah, the age old question of what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers... Well, aside from the obvious reheating and eating as it, there are a few options. Mashed potatoes make fabulous gnocchi, I love stirring cranberry sauce into muffin mix and you can turn baked sweet potatoes into my sweet potato skins. This Thanksgiving I decided to turn three leftover items into a tart.
I had an extra sheet of puff pastry from an appetizer I made, leftover spinach and a little leftover corn. I sauteed the spinach, corn, some garbanzo beans and garlic in a frying pan. I then poured it all onto a puff pastry sheet, leaving room for the edges and toped it with a little cheese we also had leftover. Into a 400 degree oven it went for about 15 minutes and voila a fabulous little tart that tasted fab. So good I actually think I'll intentionally make this again!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! What are you doing with your leftovers?
November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
From my family to yours, I wish you all the happiest Thanksgiving! I feel like I have so much to be grateful for this year!
I can't wait to hear what you all made! Please share your pictures and recipes! I love hearing about them! You can share on the facebook page that you can find, by clicking that tab to the right :)
And if you have any questions about my recipes or others today, please feel free to email me. I'll keep my phone close by.
Enjoy your day!
November 22, 2011
Apple Pot Pie
How is a girl suppose to reinvent one of the best desserts ever? Last night, I was thinking of all sorts of different ways to spin the classic apple pie. Because I love individual size desserts so much, I decided to make personal apple pot pies. They turned out pretty cute and I think they would be a super fun way to try something a little different this Thanksgiving without changing the classic too much. I used my Mom's famous apple pie recipe and one cup ramekins for the perfect serving size.
Apple Pot Pies
Serves 6
What you'll need:
1 packaged pie crust or my favorite recipe from The Joy of Baking
Apple Filling:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt
8 cups thinly sliced pared tart apples
3 tbsp. butter or butter substitute
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare pastry dough.
In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Mix with cut apples.
Divide the apples up into the ramekins filling them as high as you can. Then dot them with butter.
Cut circles out of your dough and cover the apples. Make slits in the crust to allow steam to escape. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is beautifully golden.
I prefer to serve these guys warm, but room temp is also fine.
Enjoy!
November 21, 2011
Pass the Gravy...
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I spent the better part of this weekend trying to come up with a new gravy recipe. Don't get me wrong, I have dreams about my mushroom gravy that I always serve, but this year I thought I would try to come up with something new. I have to say... I got nothing... This mushroom gravy recipe is still by far my favorite! I hope you enjoy as well :)
Serves 4 - 6
What you'll need:
1 small to medium onion, halved and sliced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. butter (or earth balance to make it vegan)
1 medium portobello mushroom, chopped
4 oz. wild mushrooms, sliced (these could be crimini, shitake, oyster or whatever you like)
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp. soy sauce
salt to taste
What you'll do:
In a large frying pan, on medium low heat, melt the butter and add in the onions, portobello mushrooms and garlic. Add a pinch of salt. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add the wild mushrooms and saute for another couple minutes. Add the flour and mix until dissolved.
Add in the vegetable broth and cornstarch. Stir to dissolve all the cornstarch. Let cook for another couple minutes and add the soy sauce. Taste and season.
Enjoy with my buttermilk mashed potatoes :)
November 18, 2011
Pan Roasted Acorn Squash and Raw Kale Salad
I adore raw kale salads! Here is the salad I made for the Napa Film Fest Dinner Party :) It's hearty and very fitting for Thanksgiving and all of the Fall season for that matter.
Acorn Squash and Kale Salad
Serves 6
What you'll need:
10-12 leaves of kale, washed well
1 acorn squash
balsamic vinegar glaze
olive oil
What you'll do:
Wash, de-vein, and chop the kale into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over them and drizzle with about 2 tbsp. olive oil. Get your hands in the bowl and massage the kale. Do this for about a minute and it should reduce in size by about 1/3. Set aside.
Thinly slice the acorn squash into rings and clean out the seeds in the center. Heat up a frying pan and melt some butter in it. Pan fry the squash rings on both sides until they are soft.
To plate, place a squash ring on the plate, top with a pile of kale, add some marcona almonds to the plate and drizzle with some balsamic vinegar glaze.
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