I chose Bastille in Alexandria for DC’s restaurant week purely because it was walkable from Braddock Rd Metro and it had 4 “$” signs. If only all shots in the dark were this much of a success! I would go back any day of the year, Restaurant Week or no. If that’s not high praise, I don’t know what is.

Appetizers

These beignets make for an upscale snack!

The calamari and shrimp beignets are plentiful. They come out burn-your-mouth hot, but have a lovely texture (crispy on the outside and a nice doughy texture on the inside). There are nice pieces of shrimp and calamari, so you know they’re not skimping by using ground up bits. The dipping sauce had a nice spice and is definitely recommended!

The cheese is melt-in-your-mouth and on the plate delicious!

The heirloom tomato and burrata cheese, basil and oregano vinaigrette appetizer/salad is refreshing and surprisingly different than other restaurants. I think it’s the cheese. The cheese is both creamy, rich, and light all at the same time. That’s light in texture, not in calories. This is some excellent full fat cheese!

Nice light, subtle flavor

The fennel soup was on special that night, and is not on the regular menu. I was feeling like I needed something light and comforting that day. It has a subtle anise flavor, with a creamy finish.

Dinner

Great fries!

The Bastille hanger steak, cabernet shallot sauce, and pommes frites were pretty tasty. If you’re in the mood for a steak and fries, it’s hard to go wrong with this. The fries were nice and crispy on the outside. But in the end, it’s a steak and fries. I’d rather get any of the other dishes first, despite this being excellently done.

No longer on the menu. Write your senator and complain!

Unfortunately, the lamb chops are no longer on the menu. They were paired with blanched green beans, roasted peppers and late-summer squashes, and resting on top of a fennel cous-cous bed. I think my husband licked the plate.

Expertly done!

As I said before, I was in the mood for lighter fare. The grilled Branzino filet with cherry tomato, fennel and orange ragout was a home run. The fish was nicely seared, sized, and seasoned. The ragout was perfect for late summer, boasting fresh from the market tomatoes and tender, young fennel. The roasted lemon added a needed bitterness. I would order this again in a heartbeat!

Score one for Chicken!

The Moroccan-style Tajine of chicken, pearl couscous and garbanzo beans was delicious with a wall of flavor! You could taste each piece, but together… oh my! Nice balance of veggies to couscous and garbanzo. The chicken was juicy and had great color!

Dessert

A nice end to the meal

The vanilla chiffon cake, white chocolate, and raspberries was delicious, but not my favorite. I’m not a fan of white chocolate (as evidenced by my choice in dessert, below). It looks dense, but don’t let that food you. It is light and soaks up the fruit puree beautifully.

Don't let the messiness of the plate fool you. This is a well crafted machine!

The Valrhona chocolate truffle cake with Kirsch and cherries made me do the happy dance. It’s decadent, rich, flavorful, and well-balanced. The plate looks like a murder scene. Don’t let that fool you. It is one of the best desserts I’ve had. If you’re not a fan of chocolate or gooey cakes, don’t get it.

I had to use or lose some airline miles, so I got a subscription to Bon Appetit. My thought is, if I can get one really good recipe out of a magazine, the cover price (or price for the subscription) is worth it. I found gold, yet again, with their November 2009 recipe for Chipotle Cranberry Sauce.

I altered it a bit, but the idea is still the same. The chipotles make the sauce very smoky with a hint of heat. I substituted limes for lemons (I like them better), canned chipotles instead of dried (I’m lazy), and added a bit more spice and spices.

Cranberries bubbling away!

Ingredients

• 2-3 chipotle chilies from a can (if you use dried, rehydrate them with boiling water)
• 1 12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1  to 1 1/3 cups sugar (The tang of the lime stands out more with less here)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 small garlic cloves or a very large one, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon (heaping) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (heaping) ground cumin

Dump the chilis, cranberries, sugar, and lime juice in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar melts.

The sugar is starting to dissolve!

Keep on going until the berries begin to pop. Depending on your stove, this will take 5-10 minutes.

You cam tell the cranberries are popping from the sound and the brilliant red juice.

Once they start to pop, add the rest of the ingredients. Keep cooking until it gets that nice thick cranberry sauce texture, probably another 5-8 minutes. When it’s cool, take out the chipoltes, chop them up, and return them to the sauce.

The cranberries are popped and the sauce is darker, thicker and looking delicious!

This is a nice and simple recipe that packs some complex flavors. It also makes it seem like you worked really hard on it, when you just dumped some ingredients in a pot and stirred a bit. It’s also good for novices, because you can make it a up to a week ahead of time. Sweet!

Every October and November I’m moved to make baked goods out of pumpkin. But hey, cold weather makes me want to bake more in general (I made an apple pie this evening, and tomorrow even more pies will be made because Tuesday at work? Is a pie party. Yes, a party with just pies. I’m making a raspberry tart with chocolate ganache and a tomato and corn pie). But back to the pumpkin . . .

Ooey, gooey, cheesey, easy(ish), peasy.

This year I made some pumpkin butterscotch bars with oatmeal topping and my annual pumpkin roll. But after that I wanted something different. After some browsing I saw pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin brownies, but where were the pumpkin cheesecake brownies? Apparently, in my head. So I played around and came up with this recipe.

If this Thanksgiving you’re wanting a alternative to the usual pies and cakes, pumpkin cheesecake brownies might be a nice alternative.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

INGREDIENTS

For brownie batter:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 ounce chocolate baking squares, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

For cheesecake batter:

• 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 8 oz pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Make brownie batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Oil and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan, or, line with parchment paper and oil slightly. These brownies are pretty soft and gooey, so parchment might help in the removal/clean-up process.
2. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined, then add ½ cup of the semi-sweet chocolate chips and spread in baking pan. Reserve at least half a cup of batter.
3. Make cheesecake batter and bake brownies: Using an electric mixer, combine cheesecake batter ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then dollop reserved batter and swirl in with a knife or spatula. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
4. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 40-45 minutes.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature. However, refrigerating will make it easier to cut and remove the squares.

Spread out that cheesecake and dollop on some of the reserved batter before swirling it about.

And if I can say so myself, it turned out pretty well. I saved some for home and brought the rest to work, and by lunchtime I think they were all gone.

While walking across the street to my car I saw a empty, discarded box of Walker’s shortbread cookies. And the craving hit me. Like that. Inspired by garbage!

I went home, threw some butter on the counter, and then realizing it was getting pretty late had to throw the butter back into the fridge. Attempt two occurred the next day, this time with buttery success.

Rosemary and lavender are two of my favorite scents and flavors. Combined in the right balance in a buttery cookie? Oh. My.

I’ve tried to grow lavender in the past. Sadly and unsurprisingly, it either never grew, or grown plants would wither away and die. So, next best thing, culinary lavender bought in bulk from the local natural food store. My rosemary is a different story. It’s the one plant that has survived my black thumb, bless it’s fragrant, piney, herby heart. And it always forgives me a little bit of pruning, especially in a good cause such as the incorporation into cookies.

If you’re worried about the lavender making the cookies taste too “soapy,” decrease the amount of lavender by half. In some lemon lavender cookies I made a while back I was a bit overzealous with the lavender, and while some people liked the flavor, it was even too much for me.

Rosemary Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, lavender, and rosemary in a bowl.
2. Blend together butter, honey, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed. Add flour mixture and mix until dough resembles coarse butter lumps.  Gently knead into a ball of dough and move to a lightly floured surface. Knead until the dough comes together. Divide.
3. Roll out the dough into a 6 inch circle on top of parchment paper to prevent sticking. Cut into 8 wedges and separate so pieces are not touching. If desired, press in additional rosemary and lavender into top of cookies. Sprinkle with a 1/2 a tablespoon of white sugar. Scores dough by pricking with fork.
4. Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. When done, move to a rack and cool 5 minutes. Bake the other round of shortbread with the remaining dough

Optional: You can bake the round and cut the cookies after they have been removed from the oven.

Last restaurant week, my husband and I ate a little too much. I know that doesn’t mean much, coming from a food blogger, but it’s true. We went to Capital Grille for lunch exactly 6 hours before going to Rasika. For the most part, our food was delicious, but after Cap Grille’s steak and crab & lobster burger for lunch, we had to take most of our Rasika meal home. On the plus side, I can vouch for it being excellent the next day, naan included!

Appetizers

Delicious texture but a little salty.

Palak Chaat – This dish marries crispy fried spinach, sweet yogurt, tamarind, and date chutney. It would have been a home run – the crunchy spinach paired nicely with the yogurt – but it was too salty. I’m rather salt adverse, but my husband complained as well. We drank a lot of water this course.

Dinner

Martha Chicken is on the top left, veggies on the bottom.

Maratha Chicken – The chicken was incredibly juicy with the greatest brown sauce spiced with black pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Definitely a winner.

Top photo: bottom row left Dal Makhani, right Vegetable Tamatar Rassa Bottom photo: Malai Palek

Veggie Restaurant Week Dish – It included a bunch of smaller things from their main menu – Dal Makhani (lentils mixed with tomato, garlic, and fenugreek), something similar to their Malai Palek (spinach purred with garlic, cumin, and ginger) but with Paneer, and Vegetable Tamatar Rassa (seasonable vegetables, tomatoes, and goda masala).

Naan and Mint Paratha – Delicious. Moist but nicely warmed.

Dessert

The ice cream was absolutely delicious!

Gulab Jamun with cardamom ice cream – This was a lovely dessert that was appropriately sized and spiced. It was very sweet, but not cloyingly so.

I'm not going to lie or sugar coat things... Not good.

Carrot Halwa with cinnamon sabayon – Not only does this look gross, it was gross. I had about 2 bites and respectfully declined and pushed it away.

Verdict

Entrees and breads are delicious! 1/2 star for the excellent Gulab Jamun with cardamom ice cream. No points for the halwa. Perhaps we got the Palak Chaat on a night with a chef with a heavy hand in the salt dish. Overall, I’d go back, but I’d try other Indian places in the city first.

Friends, summer squash season may be past, but a good squash torte can be fine dining fare all year long if you kind find some decent zucchini and/or yellow squash on hand. Granted, I’m all for eating local and seasonal, but I also lack the discipline it takes to eat root vegetables all winter long if that happens to be the predominant produce available in the climate of my current residence.

Yellow squash, potatoes, and zucchini make for a yummy torte good all season 'round, (though best in summer).

Great as a side dish, you can add a bit more cheese (mozzarella) to beef it up as a main dish.

This torte can be made in advance and reheated (or half-cooked the night before and reheated to finish at a later time). The thinner it is the faster it will cook, but I tend to make them thicker so that each slice is more like a meal.

You can add tomatoes to this torte for a little extra something-something.

Squash Torte

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 medium sized baking potatoes, thinly sliced (1/8 inch or thinner)
• 1 yellow squash sliced (1/8, though no more than 1/4 inch thick)
• 1 zucchini, sliced, (1/8 inch think, though no more than 1/4 inch thick)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 cup sliced tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes will do, too)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 9″ round pan with cooking spray (or lightly oil it). Set aside 1/4 cup sliced green onions. Toss remaining green onions, cheese, flour, thyme, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend.
2. Layer 1/6 of potatoes in concentric circles in bottom of 1 prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Layer 1/4 of squash in concentric circles atop potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture. Repeat with 1/6 of potatoes, then 1/4 of squash and 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture. Top with 1/6 of potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture and press gently to flatten. Repeat procedure with second cake pan and remaining potatoes, squash, oil, and cheese mixture.
3. Cover pans with foil. Bake until potatoes are almost tender, about 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until tortes begin to brown and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes longer. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and chill. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350 F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.)
4. Cut each torte into wedges. Sprinkle wedges with 1/4 cup green onions; serve.

Warm out of the oven.

]]> http://matzoandrice.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/squash-torte/feed/ 1 Rice Veggie Torte Squash torte Finished torte http://matzoandrice.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/edible-fake-blood-with-molotov-theater-group/ http://matzoandrice.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/edible-fake-blood-with-molotov-theater-group/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:07:58 +0000 Matzo http://matzoandrice.wordpress.com/?p=807 ]]>

I love Halloween!  And to help everyone celebrate this year, Matzo and Rice asked our good friends at the Molotov Theater Group to do a guest blog on how to make your home made edible blood!

And now, a guest post by Lucas of Molotov Theater Group!

Halloween is my favorite holiday because it is all about glorifying the bizarre and grotesque. Washington DC’s Molotov Theatre Group, “America’s Second Oldest Theater of Grand Guignol (Theater of Horror),” relishes keeping the Halloween spirit alive year-round. As a horror-centric company, we go through stage blood by the gallon. I imagine the loyal Matzo and Rice reader might be thinking, “What does this have to do with food?” Well put a sock in your inner monologue and I’ll tell you.

A wound from Molotov Theater Group. (c) Molotov Theater Group

There are many different options afforded when building a blood effect. Stage blood manufactured by professional make-up companies is very washable, comes in a variety of consistencies, and in some cases, edible. However, this “store bought” stage blood is also very expensive, a fact that stings all the more when you think about it while on your hands and knees scrubbing it off the floor after the show is over.

An alternative to store bought blood is to make a homemade concoction of your own. Depending on what you are using the blood for, these homemade mixtures can be an effective and budget-conscious way to achieve the same effect.

Another wound from Molotov Theater Group. (c) Molotov Theater Group

We have made several different types of blood using kitchen materials. The mixture is chosen after considering how the blood will be used. For example, the blood used for arterial blood spray will have a very different quality than the blood resulting from a razor cut. The former will need to be looser so it can be sprayed long distances. The later will be thicker than actual blood, as the blood should stay put on the arm, simulating a cut into the flesh. The following recipe is one that produces a blood very similar in color and viscosity to actual blood. Measurements are vague, as this is more of an art than a science. While making your creation, remember two important rules:

1. It’s done when it looks right.
2. You can always add more of an ingredient, but you can’t take it out.

Ingredients:

Dark Cairo Syrup
Red Food Coloring
Blue Food Coloring
Peanut Butter (optional)

Materials:

Shallow Bowl (preferably white so you can better judge the accuracy of color.
Spoon (or some other stirring agent)

Dump however much cairo syrup into a bowl as you want. I recommend dark syrup, because I think it helps achieve a more accurate color, but the clear syrup will do in a pinch.

Next add your red. Pour a little into the cairo, then stir. Repeat until the syrup is a bright red. Remember, you can always add more, but you can’t take it out.

Next add a VERY tiny amount of blue. This is the most dangerous part of the recipe, as too much blue will turn your blood purple and ruin the batch. If this happens, throw it away and start again. No matter how much more red you add to the mixture at this point, it will never look right again. Trust me. However, it is important to add the blue, since there is blue in real blood. Without it, the blood will look too bright and red. I’m sure everyone has seen cheap horror movies with blood that looks like ketchup. This is due to a lack of blue.

After you achieve a realistic looking hue, you may choose to add peanut butter. The oil in the peanut butter will help keep the dye in the blood from setting into any fabric the blood touches. It also gives the blood more body if you are using it for an effect that you want to stick in one place. Using chunky peanut butter is great for simulating things like brain matter. This mix would also taste delicious on pancakes or waffles!

Watch Molotov's how-to video on their Website! And go see one of their shows!

Many of our other effects come from the kitchen, which makes a lot of sense when you stop and think about it. When simulating organic matter, it makes sense to use organic matter. The key to producing convincing, edible effects is thinking outside of the box and remembering that the simplest solution is often the most effective. See pictures of some of Molotov Theatre Group’s creation and learn more about Grand Guignol, the French theatre of horror, at www.molotovtheatre.org.

Today is my boyfriend’s birthday. We celebrated this weekend with a good deal of good food, too. On Saturday we went to Woodberry Kitchen and had an all-around wonderful meal, simply wonderful (review and pictures to come). I can’t say too many good things about it. I had tuna seared with Moroccan spies; he had braised leg of lamb with lamb sausage and eggplant and other good things. I could go on, but I’ll save that for another time.

We continued the food good times Sunday night with steamed crabs covered in salty, delicious Old Bay seasoning. At the end of the meal, the proprieters were so good to let me bring in the cake I had baked for his birthday.

This cake, in fact:

Tres leches cake made with a rum milk syrup.

Because we went out so much for his birthday I didn’t have the chance to make him a meal at home, so cake was my contribution. I had briefly entertained the notion of making a 12-layer swiss mocha cake with espresso and chocolate buttercream, but even then it seemed a bit ambitious.

This isn’t his favorite cake (he loves strawberry shortcake and Bostom cream pie), but this year he wasn’t particular about what I made him, and I had been wanting to try this cake out at home. I’ve only had this cake once, but I liked what I tasted, and it was enough to set me on a tres leches kind of course.

When I cook I like to improvise. However, with baking I need a good recipe because I think of as chemistry. The right ingredients need to work together to create the perfect pastry form. I can’t suddenly add more salt or butter to the cake after I’ve baked it. So I credit, especially in this case, a good recipe with good result. In this case, let me credit Epicurious/Gourmet with giving me the guidelines to my first spongecake.  I made some very mild adjustments, including lightening the milk syrup and switching out a meringue topping for a whipped cream, but for the most part it was just right.

Pastel de tres leches

Sponge Cake

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk

Rum Milk Syrup

• 1 can evaporated milk (12 oz.)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
• 1 can half nd half (use empty can from condensed milk – 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons  rum (I used a light rum), optional

Whipped Cream Topping

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon confectioners’/powdered sugar

For Sponge Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10×13 cake pan, and line with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour with baking powder and cinnamon. Using a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until frothy, then slowly add sugar to tighten whites to semi stiff peaks. Add yolks one at a time. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk. (Note: I don’t have a standing mixer, so instead I used my regular mixture. The egg whites didn’t stiffen properly because I was beating them too hard, but I didn’t overbeat it and the spongecake still turned out nice and light)
3. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until the middle springs back when touched and edges pull slightly away from pan. Cool. Make sure to watch the cake so that it doesn’t overcook. If it overcooks it will have trouble absorbing the milk syrup.

For Rum Milk Syrup:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Whip thoroughly with a whisk and reserve. Refrigerate if made in advance.

For Whipped Cream:

Chill a large bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 10 minutes. In the large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, or else whipped cream will become lumpy and heavy.

Assembling the cake:

This can be made at least two ways. If you want to the cake pan to double as the serving pan, you will not need to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. The parchment is there to help remove the cake from the mold. If you choose to keep it in the pan, prick the top of the cake before pouring the syrup over the cake. Gently coat the cake and let the syrup absorb. Continue until syrup is gone or saturation is to your satisfaction. Top with whipped cream.

In my case, I chose to unmold the cake and make it into two layers. While it was still warm, I pulled the parchment paper and lifted the spongecake out of the pan. I cut the cake in half in two even squares. (To make the layers more even you can use a serrated knife to cut off the rounded tops.) Prick the cake with a toothpick or fork and slowly pour the syrup into the cake, letting it absorb. Make sure to do this on a plate/pan with a lip, as the milk syrup that doesn’t absorb will drip out. I did one layer at a time, coating the first piece with whipped cream before layering on the top piece (not yet covered with the milk syrup). Once I placed the top cake layer on, I finished soaking it with the rest of the syrup. Once this was done I coated it with the remaining whipped cream and topped with fresh fruit.

Some people love brownies, but I love blondies.

A feast for the eyes and tastebuds.

And the love grows infinite when you discover that they’re also insanely easy to make. Hit by a craving while I’m–I don’t know, carving a chicken, washing dishes, wrassling my cats–I can whip up a batch in two shakes of a rack of lamb’s tail and about 30 minutes later there’s a warm batch of gooey goodness on my counter, which I always intend to share but never really get to because theyr’e so good they’re seemingly gone before the pan even cools.

I’ve made these mostly with M&Ms because (a) they’re on hand and (b) colors, whee! But my last batch I made with mini chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, and oh, it is a fine thing that will gladden your soul.

Blondies

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from How to Cook Everything:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips/m&ms/butterscotch chips/whatever you think will go with the blondies

Directions

1. Oil and flour an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Add salt and flour stir in flour. Mix in the 1/2 cup of the mixings, be they chocolate chips or nuts or whatever
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. Don’t overbake them–the blondies will continue to cook a little more when you remove them from the oven, and even if they don’t cook through so entirely, who’s gonna complain about a gooey one?  Not I.

MSN Money has an interesting pictorial slideshow about how much different families across the world spend on food in a week. Though this was an article on their money page, what struck me most keenly was the not the money spent but the food purchased. The most “developed” nations also were the ones with the most packaged food.

Hungry Planet" excerpt © Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio

I’ve always wanted to try tea eggs, and inspired by this post from Tiny Urban Kitchen, I might just have to try it this weekend.

Fall makes me want to eat all things pumpkin. I’m already revving up my oven to make a pumpkin roll or two, but with the leftover pumpkin I’ll inevitably have, I think I’ll also have to try these pumpkin oatmeal bars from Framed.

After tasting some tres leches cake at La Tasca a few months back, I’ve had a hankering to make one of my very own. I might start with this recipe from Masa Assassin or this one from Allrecipes.com.