Back, and (hopefully) better than ever

So here we are.  A new blog name, gearing up for another round of holiday festivities, and a new outlook on this whole thing.  A warning:  you're still not going to see much of the H on the blog for a variety of reasons, but you are going to see more of moi.  Join me for my first Cooking, Reading, Wearing post about, as promised, our wedding!

Cooking:

First and foremost, we had THE MOST AMAZING group of people in the universe help us with our wedding.  These photos are courtesy of our photographers-turned-friends Reid and Wendy at 12-1 Photography (they also have a great, fun company called Crash My Event that is doing cool things).  While I can't recall eating much of anything at the reception, I have heard nothing but great things about the food.  The pictures don't do it justice!

Who doesn't love a Tequila Lemon Poached Pear?

We couldn't have done it without Mallori, our go-to-gal at the Hyatt where we were married, and their amazing team.  I was never without a full glass of champagne (thanks to my waiter, who I asked to marry me more than once that night - H doesn't keep my champagne tank full the way he did)!

Reading:

One of the best things about the H is that he really gets me.  When people were telling him to buy me jewelry as a wedding gift, he got on the internet and ordered me a quarto of Shakespeare's plays FROM 1776.  When I opened them I cried and asked if we could skip the ceremony so I could smell them all day.  That's love, ladies and gentleman (him for me and me for the books . . . and me for him, too, despite my many proposals to champagne cater waiter).

Wearing:

The shoes, as you ALL know, are Fendi, and my dress was from Pronovias with a custom belt created by the fantastic tailor at The Dressing Room.  Seriously, I had THE BEST PEOPLE around me while planning my wedding and the day-of.  I would love to post more photos of my friends and family, but not everybody's cool with having their face splashed all over the internet, so I'll leave them out of it.

This year has been huge for me in so many ways, and I hope that using it as a jumping off point for new content on this blog will re-inspire me and interest all of you!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the new content and style, and I look forward to writing more regularly now that I've kicked things off.

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake

I love Trisha's Southern Kitchen, on the Food Network.  LOVE.  She is a riot.  Have you seen the Steel Magnolias episode?  It is absolutely priceless and, someday, I will make my own armadillo cake.  In the meantime, I'm content to watch Trisha be hilarious, although the H and I suspect that her sister Beth is actually the genius cook in the family, given the fact that she's on "assisting" Trisha in every other episode.  Regardless, I love them both (and I love when Garth makes an appearance.  It takes me back to my childhood).

ANYWAY, Trisha makes a Cold Oven Poundcake (a favorite of one of Beth's kids!  Beth is EVERYWHERE) and I always thought it looked delish.

I changed Trisha's episode ever-so-slightly by adding the seeds from two vanilla beans and a little more vanilla extract, and using about 1/3 cup less sugar.  Otherwise I left it exactly as is.

And it. Is. FABULOUS.  Moist and delicious.  And since I love vanilla SO much, the beans added a little extra oomph.

I enjoyed this poundcake with chocolate sauce and fresh strawberries.  Nightly.  Because that's how I roll.

For some reason, I saw these and thought man, they kind of look like my strawberry and chocolate-laden poundcake.

 Christian Louboutin via Neiman Marcus

Just me?  Whatever.

Blueberry Drop Biscuit Cobbler

Blueberry season is one of the most wonderful times of the year.  Really.  When I was in college, I met a delightful woman, from Georgia, who made a bitchin' blueberry pie but WOULD NOT give me the recipe.

This cobbler is not that blueberry pie, but it's what I'm going to make when I want to wow people with my sweet culinary skills.

It certainly wowed the H.  He has never shared my affinity for blueberries, but I believe he may now be a convert.  And who can blame him.  Look at those dark berries and sugar.  Sweet.

It also bakes up so easily, and so beautifully, and SO QUICKLY.  I made this twice, the first time according to the recipe and the second with fat free sour cream and whole wheat flour.  I actually preferred the latter, as the whole wheat flour gave the topping a nice texture.  But to each his own!  I'm just glad that my own now contains blueberry cobbler, in either form.

I would also take these:

Gianvito Rossi via Barneys

They are THE blueberry cobbler boot equivalent, if I do say so myself.

Skinny Chocolate Chip Scones

It's official:  I'm the worst food blogger ever.  And it's not even because I haven't been blogging (which in and of itself makes me a bad food blogger).

It's because I haven't been cooking.  Not in heels or otherwise.  I haven't really been inspired by any recipes that have crossed my path, and I'm stressed out about a long list of things (like the fact that I'm getting married in 54 days!  Holy shit smokes!).

I saw this recipe for Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones on Skinny Taste a while back, and whipped them up shortly thereafter.  Why I've been waiting to put them on the blog for so long, I'll never know.

What's even harder to know is how these clock in at just under 200 calories!  They don't taste skinny, that's for sure.

Even the F was shocked that these are "light."  He had one for dessert every night after supper (for the few days they lasted).

I probably could have even gotten away with sprinkling less sugar on top (I followed the recipe exactly!), but it made them look so pretty (nearly sparkly, even) that I couldn't resist following the directions to a T.

It looks a little sad on that plate all by itself but don't worry, peeps, it didn't sit there long!  I don't crave sweets often, but when I do this will be a great substitute for something smaller that has more calories!!!

And what more closely resembles a low-cal, chocolate chip scone than an expensive, polka dot pump?

Christian Louboutin via Neiman Marcus

Even the pointed toe references the scone.  I'll take one of each, please.

Truffle Brownies

The F had two choices, this year, for Christmas dessert:  caramel custard with homemade whipped cream or truffle brownies with homemade ice cream.  Obviously you know which one he chose, based on my inability to blog in order.

And despite the fact that there are no pictures or personal details of the F on this blog, I think we all know he's a chocoholic.  I used this recipe, from the July 2010 issue of Bon Appetit (foregoing the walnuts because I do not care for walnuts in my brownies).

These brownies are RICH, peeps.  A chocolate force to be reckoned with.

I chose to bake my brownies in a pie plate and invert them onto make cake stand, because I liked the presentation.  The ganache slid down the edges like slime on the head of a celebrity at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

I was thrilled that my new camera seemed to capture the rich fudginess.  Too bad these pictures aren't scratch and sniff.

A warm, gooey brownie calls for warm (gooey?) boots.

Golden Goose via Barneys

If these aren't the shoe equivalent to a decadent brownie, I don't know a pair exists!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Some time ago, the F got me the ice cream attachment for my beloved KitchenAid Classic Plus Stand Mixer, and it changed my life.  Not in any cerebral way, just in the way that now I can eat homemade ice cream, a joy which I had rarely experienced in years prior, and certainly not ever experienced in my own kitchen.

Homemade ice cream is easy.  It takes time, yes, but there is very little skill involved.  Very little skill and a lot of egg yolks.

I pulled this recipe for standard vanilla ice cream right from my KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes cookbook (and added a little extra vanilla):

2 1/2 cups half and half
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened.

Continuing on Speed 2, very gradually add half-and-half (your eggs will curdle if you don't do this SLOWLY, peeps!!!); mix until blended. Return half-and-half mixture to medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy, stirring constantly. Do not boil.

Transfer half-and-half mixture into large bowl; stir in whipping cream, vanilla, and salt. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

Assemble and engage freeze bowl, dasher, and drive-body interface. Turn to STIR Speed (Speed 1). Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into freeze bowl. Continue on STIR (Speed 1) for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Immediately transfer ice cream into serving dishes, or freeze in an airtight container.

I made the ice cream on Christmas Eve, and we had it on Christmas day with truffle brownies (more on those on Tuesday).  I had no idea that making plain old vanilla ice cream (my favorite, by the way) would be so easy and rewarding.  But I can tell you that I'll never go back to store-bought!

I am quite certain that a nude, leather, peep-toe pump is the shoe equivalent of classic vanilla ice cream.

 Jimmy Choo via Neiman Marcus

Because I am now making a habit out of homemade, classic vanilla ice cream, I may have to make a habit of these, as well.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

I still have a few posts to do with old photos, so bear with me . . .

I made this salted caramel pretzel bark as a treat to bring to our holiday luncheon at work.  A few people around campus know about the blog and my love of cooking (in heels!) so my bark was well-received!

I used the following recipe (retrieved and modified slightly from this recipe):

• ½  bag of mini pretzel twists
• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup total)
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips
• course kosher salt

 Preheat your oven to 350, and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Throw down a single layer of pretzels.  In a saucepan (medium works best), melt the butter and brown sugar together until it is bubbly and thick.  Remove it from the heat and pour it over the pretzels.  It will not cover all of the pretzels!  (I was really concerned, at this point, but I threw it in the oven anyway, for 5 minutes).  After the caramel-oven phase, top the whole thing with chocolate chips and use a spatula to spread the chips out a little.  As the original recipe suggested, I put the pan back in the oven for about 5 minutes to ensure optimal meltage.  After five minutes, I gave the chocolate layer a sprinkle of course kosher salt, then put the whole thing in the freezer for 2 hours before breaking it up into bark and boxing it up!

I used slightly less chocolate (personal preference) and the bark was still plenty chocolate-y.  I also went with dark chocolate (again, personal preference) and it turned out wonderfully!

I failed to take photos of the finished, broken up product, but this was SO DELICIOUS (but slightly painful to break apart - I got caught on sharp pretzel edges once or twice).  And a huge hit at my holiday luncheon.  Mission:  Accomplished.

Another mission accomplished:  shoe success!

The F - who NEVER reads my blog, btw - tracked down the (sold out at Nordstrom) Cole Haan's I'd been eye-balling and surprised me with them for Christmas.  It's been a long while since I've snapped a pic of shoes on my very own feet, so here you go!  Messy desk and all!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

My ability (and desire) to bake varies from day to day, but I had pumpkin leftover from Thanksgiving and a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread in front of me, so it seemed appropriate to bake over the weekend.

To say I was thrilled with the vibrancy of this orange would be an understatement.

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup + 1/4 cup chocolate chips, divided

As the blogger suggested, I lined my loaf pan with parchment paper and preheated my oven to 350 degrees.  I mixed my wet and dry ingredients separately, the combined them and folded in the first cup of chocolate chips, before dumping the whole thing into my loaf pan, topping it with another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, and baking for approximately 70 minutes.  

I also watched my bread, which looks beautiful and delicious in this photo, sink before my very eyes when I removed it from my loaf pan to cool on my wire rack.  I still have no idea what I did wrong, but I know that it didn't matter because this bread tasted AWESOME.  It is dessert, to be sure, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

 These are, of course, great.

Giuseppe Zanotti via Barneys

I've always been comfortable in heels, but my legs are becoming stronger due to a new workout regime and I believe I'd be better in these heels than ever before.  And just think, if I stopped eating sweet, chocolate-chip laden breads I'd REALLY be in heel-walkin' shape.

But I would never do anything so drastic.

Delayed Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie

I am blaming my absence on the greatest of news:  there's going to be a royal baby!  An heir to the throne!  A STUNNING pregnant princess with magnificent hair!  If I can't be distracted by that, then I don't know what's out there to distract me.

Moving on.

I made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!  Sugar free pumpkin pie!  The recipe goes a little something like this (adapted from Painless Cooking:

1 15 oz can solid packed pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
½ cup cold water
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup Splenda
1 unbaked pie shell

I whipped the first seven ingredients together in my stand mixer, the poured the delicious, pumpkiny goodness into my store-bought pie shell (I did a LOT of cooking on Thanksgiving, and making pie dough didn't make the list of priorities) and baked it at 350 for 50 minutes.

My knife came out clean, and I was a happy girl.  I should caution you, however, that this pie didn't keep worth a darn.  It was delicious the day of, and on Black Friday, and it saw me through the completion of my holiday shopping on Saturday, but after that it was a lost cause.  You've been warned.

I should also warn you that there is no shortage of shoes on my holiday wish list.

Manolo Blahnik via Barneys

The F has been asking me, incessantly, what I'd like for Christmas.  He obviously doesn't read my blog.