Monthly Archives: February 2014

So Much Book Love

These people. And this food. And the books. I love them!

1620361_595573880521570_1161061836_n{The Book Thieves – (well, most of us, less about 4 or 5 thieves) – photo by Chris Fanning – and yes, that is a coon skin hat}

1622011_595574087188216_1288941368_n{Some eats for the evening – homemade biscuits and strawberry jam, homemade cranberry relish and cream cheese with crackers, homemade rhubarb pie (by yours truly – my obsession with rhubarb is deep and multi-seasonal), homemade chocolate sea salt caramel brownies with jeweled strawberries, and homemade savory meat pastries made with carrots, onion, and bison (we don’t mess around when it comes to good eatin’). We also enjoyed a delicious array of NY red wine and NY wildflower honey mead, apple pie, mocha muffins, and carrots with hummus – photo by Tanya Dillyn}

photo 2{Wine and brownies and awesome people and good books – welcome to book club}

photo 3{Pretty art I scrounged up for The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey}

Last night was our first meeting for The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. I love book club nights so much! The books are magical, our commitment to tasty, book-inspired food and wine is always exceptional, and our conversations (and friendships) are just the best!

As for The Snow Child, we’re only halfway through this Russian fairy-tale inspired story about one couple’s life in the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920s and the child they meet that changes everything, but so far, I’m into it! I’ve still got a whole half the book to go, so I’m not going to say much now. More to come later!

This book is also the “If All of Rochester Read The Same Book…” book, which means that pretty much everyone in this city is reading it right now, the author will be in town in March, Writers & Books has crafted up a dandy little reader’s guide, and there’s going to be a ton of fun/neat programming and activities surrounding the book in the next month or so. We have a lot to look forward to!

AND…

World-Book-Night{via}

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{via}

I was accepted as a 2014 World Book Night giver! I’m so excited! I LOVE this organization! On April 23, 2014 I’ll be giving away 20 copies of the book Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (my first choice pick – though I had about 5 favorites from this year’s list so it was hard to narrow it down to my top 3!) to light or non-readers in Rochester, NY! To learn more about World Book Night’s mission, click the link above. To check out their 2014 book list, click here. Love their mission? Apply to be a 2015 giver here!

I cannot wait for this box to arrive for me in April!

img_1287{via}

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Cupcakes & Chili

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  • Post category:BlogRecipes

I’ve gotten several recipe requests for the Lemon Lavender Cupcakes I made over the weekend. And so, here it is. Enjoy :)

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Cupcakes

  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ tsp. lavender buds
  • ½ cup butter (room temperature)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup milk or half-and-half
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • Yellow gel food coloring (optional)

Filling

  • ¼ cup lemon curd

Frosting

  • 4 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 2 Tbsp. butter (room temperature)
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp. lavender simple syrup (1 Tbsp. lavender buds, ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup water)
  • 1 and ½ cups powdered sugar
  • Purple gel food coloring (optional)

Toppings

  • Lavender buds
  • Lemon zest
  • Yellow or purple sugar, edible glitter, or edible pearls

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F; line a 12-count muffin pan with 9 paper liners. (Recipe yields 9 cupcakes)
  2. Put the sugar and lavender flowers in a food processor. Process briefly to combine.
  3. Tip the lavender sugar into a bowl with the butter. Beat together until pale and fluffy.
  4. Beat the eggs into the butter, one at a time, then sift in the flour and fold gently.
  5. Add salt and baking powder. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
  6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups. Bake for 18 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
  7. Use a paring knife to remove a “plug” from your cupcakes. Fill holes with lemon curd.
  8. To make simple syrup – In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and water and bring to a simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add lavender and simmer on low heat for 3 minutes. Strain liquid into a small bowl to remove lavender and let cool completely.
  9. To make frosting – Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Beat in vanilla and 1 Tbsp. simple syrup. Beat in powdered sugar, one half cup at a time. Add 1 more Tbsp. simple syrup and gel food coloring, if using.
  10. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with toppings.

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We also went to a chili and beer tasting cookoff, which was an exceptionally delicious dinner. We sampled 5 or 6 beers and all 17 chilis, catagorized as mild, medium, and hot – with cheese, sour cream, onion, bread and butter, and cornbread. Oh, man. Talk about good eatin’. Ted and I took notes so we could properly judge and cast our ballots. Clearly, we were invested. If you haven’t been to a chili cookoff recently, I’d highly recommend it.

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Girls’ Night/Surprise Party

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To celebrate Shawnda’s birthday and squeeze in a good old-fashioned girls night, our wonderful, fun, little group of about seven amazing ladies surprised Shawnda with dinner at Great Northern Pizza Kitchen where we shared harvest salads, lobster bisque, garlicky breadsticks, and The Goat Pizza (olive oil, fresh garlic, roasted garlic, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, kalamata olives, parsley, mozzarella cheese, and goat cheese), and then headed back to her place for a Pajama Party complete with cozy pajamas, girl talk, music, party hats, a birthday song/candle/wish, and multiple bottles of wine, brownies, lemon lavender cupcakes, ice cream cupcakes with pop rocks, ice cream sundaes, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, white cheddar popcorn, sea salt popcorn, and more tangy pop rocks…because what’s a girls night without a blast from the past?

Good friends are some of life’s greatest treasures!

 

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Lemon Lavender Winter Cupcakes

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  • Post category:BlogRecipes

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Lavender sugar cupcakes, filled with sweet and tangy lemon curd, and topped with lavender simple syrup infused cream cheese frosting

…for the win.

 

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