Ladies Night #3 – Fruit Tart

The locations: Verita’s Wine Bar to start, followed by our usual hangout at Becca’s.

The goods: Le Cordon Bleu Fruit Tart – A light flavorful treat perfect for summer, dessert…breakfast.

The eats: A shared cheese board and a shared charcuterie board paired with bread, nuts, and crackers at the wine bar. Back at the house, Becca made a delicious salad of field greens, Cara Cara oranges, pomegranate seeds, avocado, crumbled feta, and a maple balsamic dressing. Meg made baked chicken marinated with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and garlic served with white rice. Both were delicious!

The drinks: A different glass of wine for each of us at Verita’s. Back at Becca’s, a shared bottle of dry white wine for Meg, Mary, and Becca, and I drank a sweet tropical wine – Rosebud Gold from Niagara Landing Winery in the Finger Lakes wine region just down the road from us. We also split two bottles of effervescent peach beer and, later in the night, gin-pomegranate-citrus cocktails.

The entertainment: Good conversation, many rounds of the game Scattergories, and of course, baking!

And now…the goods!

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Alternate blog titles for this post (bonus!):

‘There’s too much peach liqueur in this pastry cream,’ said no one ever.

– ‘To living above the poverty line!’ – A toast to success!

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Stuff My Husband Won’t Eat #2

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(Read “Stuff My Husband Won’t Eat #1” here)

The appetizer – pear, cheese, and wine (love the bottle!)

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So, I’m pretty sure any taco that boasts kale and beans as its two main ingredients has no right to be so delicious. Alas, these tacos are awesome. Like, so awesome I can’t wait to make them again for the second time this week awesome. These are packed with nutrients and unexpectedly great flavor. Check out the recipe here. This lady has the best healthy recipes around! I had shallots on hand so I added a few of those with the onions, and used New York state extra sharp white cheddar for the cheese.

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And for dessert, my first dragonfruit! What a gorgeous piece of produce, right? But, to be totally honest, it wasn’t quite as flavorful as I’d hoped. Healthy and refreshing yes, but a bit bland overall I think. Perhaps its because it is neither dragonfruit season nor is dragonfruit native to upstate New York – that could, quite possibly, be the culprit. Does anyone have any good dragonfruit dessert recipes? I’m not opposed to dragonfruit cocktail recipes either…you know, just to clarify.

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Got any other recommendations for Stuff My Husband Won’t Eat?

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Ny State Ice Wine & Culinary Festival

“I wish to go to Festival! I wish!” – Into the Woods

(ironically, one of my least favorite musicals)

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And thanks to all of the facebook votes we received from our awesome family and friends for our ice wine cocktail creation, the Pear Weather Friend, we were able to go to the NY State Ice Wine & Culinary Festival at Casa Larga Vineyards this past Saturday with the tickets we won! THANK YOU for sending votes and luck our way – you sure know how to share the love on Valentine’s Day!

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I enjoyed two seminars: Ice Wine Rules (what makes a true ice wine “the nectar of the gods” and how to spot the phonies) and Sipping with Sweet & Savory (pairing food and wine), both of which were hosted by great and amusing speakers and included samplings of tasty desserts, my favorite Casa Larga ice wine (which won the Best Ice Wine in the World award), and a sampling of faux ice wines – to see if we could tell the difference between the real deal and the fakes. In the Ice Wine Rules seminar I learned that true ice wine (which is made from grapes frozen on the vine at between -7 and -14 degrees Celsius for several weeks and typically picked in the middle of the night, are pressed far more gently and slowly than normal grapes, often only producing 2-3 drops of wine per grape with a residual sugar percentage of between 33-56%) will be clearer and brighter in color, will be thicker almost like a syrup or nectar and will slide around the glass much more slowly, and will smell of caramelized sugar with a sweet scent that lingers. Canada, Germany and the United States top the list of true ice wine producers while China and Moldova top the list for counterfeit ice wine production. Of the over 300 wineries in upstate NY, many of which are in the Finger Lakes wine region in Rochester’s backyard, only 22 wineries produce real ice wine.

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It sounds simple, but in the Sipping with Sweet & Savory seminar I learned that pairing a sweet wine with a sweet dessert or a dry tart wine with a heavier or spicy dish or a bitter chocolate often works best because sweet and sweet will neutralize each other just like bitter and bitter will, so you won’t be overwhelmed by any one flavor (as I would have previously expected). We experimented by pairing a sweet vanilla bean custard with caramelized pineapple with a dry chardonnay and then with ice wine. The chardonnay has vanilla and citrus notes, which many people originally thought would pair well with the custard, but the sweetness of the ice wine balanced the sweetness of the dessert really nicely. We did the same with a chocolate cookie that had a kick of cayenne with it. It tasted much better with the tart red than with a sweet white. Also, I could have eaten that custard all day.

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Following the seminars I attended, Meg and I worked our way around the room sampling ice wines and regular wines from ten different wineries, as well as a variety of gourmet cuisines infused with NY State Ice Wine.

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From top left: radicchio and arugula salad with toasted almonds and raspberry ice wine vinaigrette, pulled pork sliders with mango chipotle ice wine glaze, farfalle with pancetta, leeks and wild mushrooms in an ice wine cream sauce, butternut squash soup infused with ice wine, ice wine cheese fondu, iced apricot filled cupcake, fire and ice wine s’mores, and pinot noir and white chocolate raspberry ice creams. Download all the recipes here under “the recipes.” While all the recipes were definitely tasty, my favorites were the pulled pork slider, cheese fondu, and s’more – which had a hint of heat from cayenne pepper and ice wine both in the chocolate and in the marshmallow! Those three were to die for! We also sampled NY state maple cotton candy, NY state cheeses, monk-made breads, balsamics and oils, fantastically flavored chocolates, Genesee beer, and ice wine, ice wine, ice wine!

Outside we took a chilly but fun tour of the winery and learned about the ice wine vs. regular wine making process, enjoyed the ice bar and ice sculpture carvings, and warmed ourselves by the heated toasting barrels before deciding to stow away in them.

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At the conclusion of the Festival I finally met “Ice Berries Louis” – the dude who’s cocktail was our strongest competition throughout the four days of voting and the guy who nearly tied with us twice, both at the midnight voting deadline and the 10 a.m. deadline after a technical glitch prevented voting from closing at midnight. Because of the closeness of the competition and the system hiccup, the Festival decided to crown us both winners and gave both of us tickets to the festival. Our winning cocktails (see the cocktail recipes here under “the contest” – check out that amazing sounding Pear Weather Friend!) were supposed to be made and served to everyone at closing ceremonies, but due to an ingredient oops (Hmmmm, a trend? I think there’s a few contest-related things for them to work out for next year’s festival!) they had to postpone the tasting until a few weeks from now when we’ll be invited back with our friends, as well as an invitation extended to all the Festival attendees and general public, to sample our cocktails. Instead everyone received glasses of champagne topped with ice wine to toast to our success. But I’ll keep you posted when the real tasting comes along!

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A magical day, indeed!

THANKS FOR GETTING US THERE EVERYONE! :)

Now go get yourself a bottle of Casa Larga’s Fiori Vidal Ice Wine and kick back with a Pear Weather Friend!

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Ladies Night #2 – Salted Caramel Brownies

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Valentine’s Day marked Ladies Baking Night #2 (read about #1 here!)

The goods: Salted Caramel Brownies – a hit indeed!

The eats: An appetizer of thinly sliced red pears paired with sharp white Vermont cheddar and a dinner of Hungarian Whitefish Paprika. I wasn’t quite sure this was going to be a winner when I was making it, but don’t let looks fool you. It was easy, healthy and delicious. I left out the potatoes, used baked bacon instead of fried, and served it over a bed of jasmine rice.

The drinks: A bottle of 2011 sweet effervescent Bellangelo moscato from our local Finger Lakes wine region. It was a great wine on its own, but paired really well with the Hungarian whitefish paprika!

The entertainment: We watched a slideshow of pictures from Becca’s epic cross-country road trip to many of America’s most awesome sights, our friend Mary stopped by for about 30 minutes for a drink and some girl talk, and Raymond, Priscilla, Becca and I frantically campaigned for over an hour to scare up as many votes as we could for our ice wine cocktail contest before the polls closed at midnight (or didn’t, thanks to technical difficulties). It was intense, especially since the competition was so tight and we were literally neck-and-neck with the guy who placed second. If this is how politicians live, I definitely chose the right field!

And now…the goods :)

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Kitchen Shenanigans

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Tried my hand at homemade ramen. Fortunately, it tastes much better than it looks. It’s packed with fresh veggies in a homemade broth and wheat soba noodles. The egg added a great touch of flavor too. Next time I’ll work on making it look more visually appealing and less the color of watery barf.

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Snow ice cream? Yup, it’s happening. Definitely happening. That, right there, is nothing but pure creamy, sugary goodness and fresh snow probably loaded and doused with all sorts of nasty pollutants. Bring it on. I can’t wait to try it next snowfall!

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Just look at this gorgeous kale salad! I’ve never really used kale before but bought a big old bag of it on a whim at the grocery store last week. Now I’m trying to find tasty ways to incorporate it into my diet since it’s so nutritious (I obviously need something nutritious to balance out snow ice cream and ladies night baking sessions…), and this salad looks to be just the incentive for a curious kale newbie.

What’s going on in your kitchen?

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On Ladies Night and Epic Cookies

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Over lunch one day last week, a few of my friends from the theatre and I decided we all enjoyed baked goods way too much to not do something fun and delicious about it. Cue ladies night!

The goods: Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies (Yes, they are as amazing as they sound and you should try them immediately)

The eats: A smorgasbord of leftover Indian food and vegetarian stir fry

The drinks: Hard cider, white wine, and milk for those cookies

The entertainment: Lots of girl talk and countless rounds of the game Taboo (which has since become the game we gather in the kitchen to play during lunch, much to the amusement of the rest of our theatre co-workers. They’ll be playing soon enough too…)

Up next: Valentine’s Day ladies night!

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For the Winter/Spring In Between

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Winter Citrus Salad

  • Field greens
  • Boursin garlic and herb cheese
  • Red onion
  • Apple
  • Avocado
  • Blood orange
  • Pomegranate
  • Seasoned and sauteed white fish like mahi mahi or tilapia
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For the Win

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I’m a sucker for excellent salads with all manner of fantastic, fresh, and eccentric ingredients.

This one is pretty tame by my standards, but it’s so tasty that it’ll blow you away!

  • Spring mix
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Pear
  • Dried cranberries
  • Glazed walnuts
  • Boursin cheese (this one ingredient makes this salad!)
  • Salmon (I bet applewood smoked bacon would be a fantastic substitute if you’re not into fish)
  • Annie’s sesame ginger salad dressing (so good!)
  • Other ideas: figs, pumpkin seeds, apples, garlic croutons, black olives, hearts of palm…

DO IT.

An easy dinner to impress the socks off your friends is served.

You’re welcome.

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The Other Soup of Fall

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Evidently I’ve been on a soup kick lately. But really, when it’s all blustery and colorful here, can you blame me?

Last night, on the heels of the delicious tomato soup I made earlier in the week, I tried my hand at this roasted cauliflower and aged white cheddar soup using the massive head of homegrown cauliflower I scooped up at the farmer’s market last weekend.

Another perfect fall soup! Though truth be told, it was actually really tasty even before I added the cheese and cream/milk. It was good with the cheese and milk too of course, but I think if you wanted a really healthy option (just roasted cauliflower, veggies, veggie broth, and seasoning), you could leave out the cheese and milk entirely and still have a great tasting roasted cauliflower soup! I think I’ll try it that way next time. :)

The only things I did differently from the recipe was to use light half and half instead of milk, and to add a few drops of liquid smoke at the end to give it a nice subtle hickory flavoring. I topped it with bacon crumbles, scallions, and a slice of sourdough bread. Totally delicious…another must try!

On an entirely unrelated note, I made this soup while “watching” (I use that term loosely) the show Little Shop of Gypsies on TLC (this is what happens when I unexpectedly wind up with cable for two months). The culture and lifestyle of the travelers/gypsies in England is absolutely fascinating! Crazy, completely different, a little wild, a little sad in some ways…but really fascinating!

Hope you have a great weekend!

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The Soup of Fall

A few nights ago I made the most fantastic tomato soup ever! Think La Madeleine, only better. I thought the recipe looked tasty when I found it, but I was totally blown away when I took my first spoonful. I envision myself making this often throughout the rest of the fall and winter. It truly is perfect for a blustery autumn day – paired with a chunk of fresh sourdough or baked mozzarella cheese balls, it’s unbeatable. A true must try recipe. For added health factor I doubled up on the veggies, cut the sugar altogether, and used light cream cheese. I also doubled the recipe because if I’m going to go to go through the effort of making a soup without access to my food processor or blender to puree it, then you better believe I want to get more than two meals out of it.

I found the recipe here. Try it with the mozzarella balls…you’ll be glad you did :)

I also continued my epic park quest with a run through this beautiful park and a hike through a trail in the autumn woods. Gorgeous!

Here’s a brief sampling of the other parks I checked out this week.

I’d say despite the adjustment to the cold and the occasional bout of homesickness or anxiety, life is pretty good.

But soup always makes this better, right :)

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