Bread Babe

After housing a loaf of bread that didn't mold for six months, I decided that it was time to start my own baking. 
Sadly, I've been trying unsuccessfully for what seems like an eternity.
Too hard. Too dense. Inedible. Burnt.

Well, now I am officially queen of my kitchen....
Okay, perhaps this is a bit of an exaggeration... 

but that is how I feel after making my first official, successful batch.

You can actually eat this bread!

These loaves didn't dent my counter, or break my bread knife when I cut through them....dare I say that they are actually good!?

I feel like I cleared the proverbial bread hurdle.

Call me Martha 

King Arthur's 'Hearth Bread'
Crunchy Crust, Doughy White Center

King Arthur's Half White, Half Wheat

Half White, Half Wheat's Glorious Inside

Funny Looking But Fabulous In My Book!

Carbs for Days

Beware, I may weigh twenty pounds more the next time you see me. 

Carrrrrrrbbbbbs!

Both the white bread recipe ("Hearth Bread"), and the wheat bread recipe I used were taken from King Arthur Flour's website. 

Mmmmm. 

Thank you King Arthur, I will be seeing you again soon!

www.kingarthurflour.com

My next feat: Black Russian Bread!
What is your favorite bread recipe!?

Elks Care, Elks Share

Happy Monday Everyone!

This weekend marked the beginning of the holiday season for us with the Elk's Lodge Spaghetti dinner in honor of Toys for Joy. 

All of the food and supplies were donated, and all of the services volunteered. 

Much to our delight, they achieved a record number of sales;

Over 210 plates of spaghetti!

Plus, not to mention, they had the best meatballs this side of little Italy, thanks to the hard work of our men. 
It took a team of five of them, working two days straight to do the job of one Italian grandmother.

Good job boys. You didn't disappoint!

Also, thank you Johnny for taking these pictures! 
We were so busy chasing our toddlers around to stop, pause and document.

See you next year at the Elks Lodge!
Do you think we can surpass 210!?

Beautiful Fall

I took this a few short weeks ago.

It was a perfect day to go for a walk through historic Bethlehem.

The sun was shining. The leaves were glowing. The temperatures were mild.

And because it was an early week day, it felt like I had the town to myself.

Ahhhhh!

I love you Fall. See you next year.

Again, this was taken with my trusty iPhone.

The wedding date is set.

Happy Friday!

The weekend is here and I was so excited that I decided to start celebrating a day early. 

Last night a group of awesome ladies and myself explored Shawnee on the Delaware. 
We started with a delicious Peruvian restaurant, Inti, and ended with a badass microbrew joint, Shawnee Craft.

Both, highly recommended.

If you are looking for someplace new and different, I highly recommend both. 
Inti's Peruvian menu is a fresh, cultural addition to the Stroudsburg scene. The atmosphere, cozy and clean. The people, kind and knowledgeable. The food, eclectic and tasty. 
Check out their site, and don't forget to byo!

http://www.inticuisine.com/

Shawnee Craft is like an underground hub for hipsters and beer mongers. 
Cool. Accoustic. Organic. 
Delicious!
If you go, order the Bourbon Barrel Porter. 
Holy shit. 
It is like coffee and beer had a milkshake lovechild.
The perfect way to top off an evening, or relax after a day on the slopes.
Not that we have snow yet...or that I have gone skiing much in the last fifteen years...but if we were to get snow, and I were to start skiing again, this is where I would end my day.
I just see it.
It makes sense.
Go there, and you will understand!

http://shawneecraftbrewingcompany.com

Have a great weekend everyone!
See you on Monday, just in time for pre-holiday banter!

Goat

Did you know that Goat is the number one protein consumed world wide?

News flash: A lot of people think the cow is sacred and that we are crazy for eating beef...

It is also lower in fat and higher in protein than beef or pork! 

Or at least that is what I read...

Who knows if it is true, however I can tell you one thing; It is delicious.

I expected it to taste more like beef, but it was actually more like pork. 

Light, yet rich and savory.

Bleeeeet!

Also, the word on the street is that is the new trendy protein to cook, according to yuppy housewives across America. 

Check out the NY Times article:

New York Times Article on Goat

My good friend Paul actually cooked this dish...but I stood in close proximity so I feel like I played my part....

Recipe:
Serves a generous crowd

Ingredients:

One, bone in, hind end/including shank of a Goat (approximately 7 pounds)

Salt and Pepper

1 large onion, roughly chopped

2 handfuls of radishes, cleaned and chopped in half

4 red potatoes, cleaned and chopped in half

3 carrots, cleaned and roughly chopped

2 ribs of celery, cleaned and roughly chopped

thyme, rosemary and/or parsley sprigs

3 cups of red wine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place the goat in a large, deep broiling pan. 
Season both sides of the goat well with salt and pepper. Place in the preheated oven for two hours.

Meanwhile, gather and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

After two hours, take out the goat and dump in all of the ingredients. Cover and braise for two more hours.

Remove from the oven, allow to rest for about 10 minutes and pull the meat off of the bone.

Enjoy!!

*It was difficult to find goat meat; Most markets do not sell it, so you will most likely have to go to a Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern market.

If you are one of my PA people, there is a great market in the same plaza as Olga's Greek Cuisine that sells goat, but they only have it fresh on weekends, so plan ahead. 

The man behind the counter is super nice...even though he looked at me like I had three heads when I asked for goat meat.

Crazy white girl...

Olive you

Historic Bethlehem is wonderful for many reasons, but one of my favorite places to stop in is 'Seasons,' an olive oil and vinegar tasting room and gift shop.

They have the loveliest selection of olive oils and vinegars from around the world, not to mention specialty pastas, sauces and flavored salts;

Think flavors like Ghost Pepper Salt, Espresso and Lime.

If you are searching for a holiday gift for the foodie in your life, I highly recommend dropping in for a visit.

After trying their products, you will have a hard time buying any other oil or vinegar.

It is truly an art form, and just like fine wine, you can taste where the oils and vinegars originate. 

Check them out at 

www.seasonstaproom.com

Enjoy!

Kale Train

I admittedly try to stay away from food trends;

Crabcakes.

Bacon wrapped scallops.

Eggs on everything. 

Smoke. 

Foam. 

Foamed smoke.

Miniature versions of cheeseburgers. 

Fancy tater tots....

 but I always dive in head first at some point or another...and then realize why they became a trend in the first place.

Kale is the perfect example.

Kale salad, kale chips, kale juice....blah blah blah blah blah.....

BLAH!

Who cares, right!?

Well...now I understand.

It is like the snack Gods heard my call (and saw the size of my ass), and sent these to earth to save me from myself.

 Scooch over Frito Lay.

Ingredients and Directions:
2 heaping handfuls of kale, chopped and cleaned
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil 
1 tsp. of kosher salt

Toss to coat with olive oil and salt. Spread kale in a single layer on a parchment lined pan. Bake at 375 until crisp. Dig in.

These will go perfectly with my bacon wrapped scallops...or my smokey crabcakes, topped with foam...or my fancy tots...or my miniature cheeseburgers...

Throw an egg on top!

Oh the possibilities!

Enjoy!

A Borrowed Day

Click.

What a moment in time.

Thank you mother nature for another beautiful evening.

Once again, I took this with my trusty iPhone.

The love affair continues...

Happy Friday!

I think I am going to title this one 

"Still Life With Toddler and Mama; The Makings of a Perfect Happy Hour"

What do you think?!
I think it is perfect!

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

May Your Marshmallows Be Perfectly Toasted, and Your Glass Half Full!

Greek Feast 2013

 Our annual 'Feast' was this past weekend and we celebrated all things Greek-inspired, food and fun. 

For three days we cooked, ate, drank and competed in our very own Olympic events including
 'The Great Saltine Challenge' (who can eat 4 saltine crackers in a minute...try it! It isn't as easy as you think!), 
a full-fledged obstacle course (including goose hurdles and log rolls), 
a whipped cream race, 
archery, sharp shooting, rocket launching, and of course the never ending battle to get the highest score on 'Centipede.'
Here is a sampling of images from the feast-ivities!

ps. If you haven't done a log roll recently, you should give it a go. It shakes your brain, but makes you remember what is is like to be young again!
 Just be careful walking afterward...

OPA!

Laurels

Fun Facts About Greece

Koroneiki, Greek Inspired Olive Oil Favors

Mmmm...olives!

Symeon's Incredible Spice Rub
Used on the Pork Slouvaki
(Sadly, we gobbled it all up before I could get a picture!)

Red Wine Braised Goat with Radishes, Potatoes and Cauliflower Puree

Baklava

Not Necessarily Greek, but Delicious Kale Chips

Spanikopita

Paul's Homemade Pita...Incredible!

Greek Orzo

Tzatziki with Mint and Honey

According to Elias, Every Wine Glass Needs a Large Straw

Toga Toga Toga!!!!

Little Caesar

Fun on the Farm

A Toddler's Attempt at the Goose Hurdles

Annie Oakley

Jack Supervises the Log Rolls

The Dance Portion of the Obstacle Course

Pirouette Portion of the Obstacle Course

Trap Shooting

Goose Hurdles

Rockets!

Kathy's Awesome Greek Feast Medals

I sadly was not able to get photos of all of our food as I was too busy eating and laughing, but over the three days, this is what we cooked and ate:

Greek Orzo with Spicy Shrimp and Feta

Greek Spiced Pork Slouvaki

Marinated Baked Feta with Pita Chips
Baklava

Homemade Pita

Tzatziki

Braised Goat with Cauliflower Puree, Radishes and Potatoes

Mousakka with Bechamel

Grilled Tuna

Spanikopita

Now, I must run five miles every day this week and eat only green vegetables...
Woof!

Next year, we are going pan-Asian!...but we may have to keep the obstacle course for good measure.

OPA!

Happy Friday!!!

I Love Me Some Fridays!

Especially when great friends are coming to visit!

Todd busted out the vinyl, and we are ready to lace up our dancing shoes.

What will you be dancing to this weekend!?

See you all on Monday!

Muah!

J'Adore Times Two

I recently went to a cute children's boutique in Bethlehem, and found some wonderful clothes on discount. 

Apparently they are closing this location, so everything is marked down to a reasonable price. 
The Allentown location...not so much.

Go to the Bethlehem store:

Milk and Honey Kids

They had the cutest vest on sale by "Joules," a brand I had seen many times before, but never really investigated (mostly because if they aren't on sale, they are expensive). Sadly, they didn't have my son's size...

So to make a long, and fairly obvious story shorter, I researched it online, and much to my delight I found not only are their childrens clothes incredible, their women's clothes are even better.

I didn't find the vest for my son, however I found some great stuff for me!

WOOT WOOT!

Oh, and if you wonder while you are looking at the images below, no...I don't hunt...

or ride a horse...

but I do like the idea of dressing the part!

Check them out!

Joules USA Site

Here are a few of my favorites pieces: 

Tunics:

Dresses:

Shirts:

Sweaters:

Outerwear, Footwear and Accessories:

Loungewear:

I figure if I stock the blog with stuff that I want for Christmas, maybe I'll score!

Hint! Hint!

Happy Shopping Friends!