Summer in a Post

Hi, there. I've been an awful blogger these past few months. So, in order to make up for that, here is what I've been up to this summer - told through the photos on my iPhone. Enjoy!

*Note: I am still obsessed with Instagram, so be forewarned that most all of these photos have been Instagramed. :)

FINALLY experienced District Taco for the first time in May at the Courthouse Farmer's Market. Who knew such good food could be made in a food truck the size of my closet? The carnitas and pollo tacos were amazing.

Tried a new dish, Chicken Chilaquiles, and discovered my tolerance for heat is not what I thought it was. HOT, but, yummy nonetheless. *Use less Adobe sauce. Just sayin'.

Dug up a favorite recipe, Spring Risotto. Still in love. The zucchini and peas are perfect in late spring, early summertime. The parmesan on top is a perfect combo.

At the end of May, early June, the Marshall family made our annual migration from DC, SC and Michigan to Outer Banks. This year we stayed in Kill Devil Hills, and it was as lovely as ever. I miss it. Nothing is better than being with family, near the water, and eating lots of food. Adam and I also celebrated our three year anniversary. Time is flying! Can't wait until next summer!

Taken at the beach house. Cooper really is a happy pup. This may have been the hundredth photo we took of these three. Yeah, Mom looks like she's over it, too. Love. :)

Oh, and we made lots of this. Dad's specialty. My mouth is watering. AH!

One of my best friends from home, Lindsay, visited DC in mid-June. She was in town for an engagement party and snuck away to play with me for a night.  I was so happy to have her here for the weekend! Now, you need to get Kaley up here to finally visit, too. :)

This is just a random date night photo from some time in June. Love ya, Addy!

In late June, we had a little get together at Casey and Katie's apartment for Mary-Kate and Amber's summer birthdays (June 21 and July 5). We all brought over salads of all sorts (pasta, panzanella, wild rice, vegetable, etc.) and stuffed our faces. It was glorious.

Oh, and I made "the" cake. The Strawberry Cream Cake, to be exact. Try it, you'll die. Aren't we festive with the red, white and blue. America!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1 pound strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-ounce envelope)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan, and line with parchment paper. Butter and flour paper and sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in 3 parts and milk in 2, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, split cake in half horizontally; place bottom half, cut side up, on a serving plate.

Make topping: In a large bowl, combine strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. Place 2 tablespoons cold water in a small saucepan, and sprinkle with gelatin; let soften 5 minutes. Place saucepan over very low heat, and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool.

Using an electric mixer, beat cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until very soft peaks form. Continue to beat, and gradually add gelatin mixture; beat until soft peaks form.

Arrange half of strawberries over bottom cake layer; top with half of whipped cream, leaving a 1-inch border. Cover with top half of cake, cut side down. Top cake with remaining whipped cream, leaving a 1-inch border. Refrigerate cake and remaining strawberries separately, at least 1 hour (or up to 1 day). Just before serving, spoon strawberries over cake.

Not sure how many of you know, but my dad retired from Pepsi in February after almost 38 years. During the last week of June, Pepsi planned a retirement party for him in Charleston. I coordinated with my mom and the wonderful party planners and ended up flying down and surprising him! It was such a fun time. This was a gift from Pepsi. It has a cooler built into the middle also. There's a grill in the background, too. Very cool.

 Dad in his "roast" chair up on stage. Such great friends were able to make it for the event and the speeches were out of this world. I know it meant so much to my dad!

The gift they had made for my parents. Hilarious. Little Coop is in the back!

We stayed at the Charleston Marriott, and it was such a nice hotel. They had awesome room service, too. I would know since I had to hide in my room for several hours before the party to avoid running in to anyone in the lobby! This cheeseburger was dank, and the fries were delish. I loved how they added the okra on top. Such a cute Southern thing to do!

 I got to spend a few extra days in Charleston, which wasn't so bad either. :) I wish I could have gotten a photo of everyone! So glad I got to see you, too, Cady Nell and Samantha! Can't wait for football season. It'll be here before we know it!

My sister sent this to me a few weeks after the party in Charleston. Looks like they are the same as ever. Happy Retirement, Dad! I know you and Mom are enjoying it!

Adam and I spent the fourth of July at our first Nationals game of the season. It was BLAZING hot, but very fun. We stopped by the Bullpen on the way out and ran into friends. Then we ventured in to Rosslyn to watch the fireworks from the National Mall. It was nice to spend America's birthday in the Nation's capital for once. :)

We got to see the whole fam again over the July 8-10 weekend when they visited DC. My parents chose to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary with us, and we couldn't have been more excited. This was the first time my parents and sister have visited all at the same time. On Friday, Adam and I took everyone to Fireworks for dinner and then Arlington Rooftop for drinks. Jess got to experience her first night out in Clarendon, and I'm sure she'll forever want to erase the images of singing kareoke in my living room later that night. We went sightseeing on Saturday and I finally got to visit the Newseum. Later that night we celebrated their anniversary at Circa in Clarendon. On Sunday, we went to a Nats game. It was a great weekend, and I'm so glad to see my parents as happy together as ever. Here's to another 35 years!

Dad and Adam discussing who knows what at Arlington Rooftop. :)

Other than those visitors in early July, the rest of the month was pretty low-key. I discovered my new online obesession, Pinterest. Check it out and follow me! 

I literally sped through about 10 books including the Hunger Games series, and I am eagerly awaiting the movies to come out in 2012.

Harry Potter 7 Part 2 came out and I went to see it with my other Potter-loving friends, Casey, Laura and Zach. I bawled during the whole thing. It's the end of an era, and I feel like a piece of me died. I can't wait to buy it on DVD and watch it 3,48,759 more times.  

I'm not sure I mentioned it, but as of April, I am one of the newest members of Junior League Washington. Casey and I attended a new member potluck two weekends ago, and met some of the new members and ate LOTS of food.

One of my very good friends, Christa, got a new job and moved to NYC this past weekend. Thank goodness it's only a bus ride away! Miss you already!

Adam and I went to Virginia Beach last weekend. I finally got to ride my beach cruiser again. I was basically running out the door as soon as we go there so I could go ride it! Here are some gross pics of me that Adam took with his phone. I am seriously sweaty and the decision to wear a huge white t-shirt was huge mistake on my part. I look hu-mungo. It did help when riding to get airflow, though. :)  

Sweet ride.

Well, that's all folks. This weekend, Adam and I are once again getting out of DC. We are visiting SC for a high school friend's wedding in Lyman, SC. We'll be staying in Greenville, so I won't be able to see any Cola friends. :( I hope to get some San Jose on Friday night though!

I will, however, be back in Cola for the USC v. Kentucky game on October 8, woop! I can't believe the Gamecocks are ranked #12! With football starting in less than a month, that means FALL IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!  I promise to blog regularly once my favorite season begins. Love you all!



Three Recipes for a New Year!

Happy 2011, dear readers! I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year's Eve.  I spent ten days at home in South Carolina over the break, and it was so wonderful to spend so much time with family and friends. I can't wait to be back in a few weeks for my sister Jessica's long-awaited 21st birthday!!! 

Adam and I had a very quiet and relaxing New Year's Eve. We cooked a big lunch of beef stew, collards and black-eyed peas. We actually went the whole nine yards and bought pig's feet to put in the peas to "give them flavor." I think it just made me want to throw up seeing the little piggy's toes, but if you like that sorta thing, then go for it. It's going to take a lot of convincing to get me to put them in there next year, that's for sure.  We watched the Gamecocks lose their bowl game versus Florida State and rung in the new year watching Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest on TV.*

Other than that, the first few weeks of 2011 have been full of cooking and finishing up decorating our new apartment. It's starting to look like a great year! Here are three new recipes I have tried since 2009 ended. Enjoy!

Caprese Risotto
Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar syrup (Thanks, Heather S. for introducing me to this!)

4 1/2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
5 ounces fresh Buffalo Mozzarella cheese, finely diced (this makes it melt easier)


Preparation:

Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, and cook 1 minute or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Stir in salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes, basil, and cheese. Place about 1 cup risotto into each of 6 shallow serving bowls; drizzle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon balsamic syrup.

Spaghetti Carbonara
Recipe from Smart Food Fast by Martha Stewart

This is super yummy because of the salt from the bacon and the creamiest of the eggs and half-and-half. It's one of Adam's new faves. Careful though.. this junk is loaded with calories. ;)

Ingredients:

8 ounces bacon (about 8 slices)
S&P
1 pound spaghetti
3 large eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 cup half-and-half

Set a large pot of water to boil (for the pasta.) In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8-12 minutes; transfer to a paper-toweled lined plate. Salt the boiling water generously; add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the package instructions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, Parmesan and half-and-half. Set aside. Drain the pasta, leaving some water clinging to it. Working quickly, add the hot pasta to the egg mixture. Add the bacon; season with S&P and toss all to combine (the heat from the pasta will cook the eggs.) Serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese. 

Chicken with Cranberry Sauce
Recipe adapted from Smart Food Fast by Martha Stewart

This is like a lighter version of Thanksgiving dinner. The whole apartment smelled like stuffing while it was cooking. Definitely give this a try. It's one of my new faves. :) I also made Mashed White Beans for the side from the same cookbook.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
S&P 
2 chicken breasts
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup frozen cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon thyme,  1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Rub evenly over the chicken breasts. Place on a aluminum foil-covered baking sheet and roast until golden brown and cooked through about 25 minutes. 

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden about 8 minutes. Add the sage and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme; cook for 1 minute. Add the broth; simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 10 -15 minutes. Strain the mixture and return to the saucepan. 

Add the cranberries and sugar; boil until the berries burst, 5-8 minutes. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture; return to a boil. Cook slightly until thickened about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat (sauce will thicken as it stands.) Season with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon sauce over the chicken.

Mashed White Beans

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans (19 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon dried sage
S&P

Recipe:

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the garlic, stirring often, until golden, about 1 minute. Add the beans, sage and 1 1/4 cups water. Cook, stirring often, until the beans are hot and the liquid thickens, about 4 minutes. Mash the beans, leaving some whole. Season with salt and pepper.

All three of these are so delicious! I highly recommend them all! 

I hope you all have a great rest of your week! We'll be having a relaxing weekend and hoping for no more snow! 

As always,

*Can we talk about how amazing the performance was by Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block? Can I please get tickets to that concert? It was clear after watching that I still have a burning flame in my heart for Donnie Wahlberg and Nick Carter that I would love to discuss with all of you.. Maybe another post..

Just Recipes!

Over the last two weeks, I've made quite a few yummy meals that I'd like to share! So, this post will be short with just that! Enjoy!

Bacon and Swiss Chicken Sandwiches
This is relatively straight forward, but it sure does taste good!

2 chicken breasts
6 slices of bacon
4 slices of Swiss cheese
2 Kaiser rolls or any type of bun or roll that you like
Dijon mustard
S&P
Lettuce or tomato, if you prefer

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cook the bacon on the stovetop or in the microwave, whichever you prefer. Next, take a piece of wax or parchment paper and fold it in half. Place the chicken breasts in between the parchment paper and pound the breasts with a mallet or something similar until they are about 1/2 inch thick. This may take a few minutes, but it is super important to get them even all the way across. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and S&P them generously. Bake them in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature hits 170 degrees or is no longer pink, flipping them once halfway through. With just a few minutes remaining in the cooking time, place the pieces of Swiss on the chicken breasts and let them melt over the tops. If you like, you can place the buns on another baking sheet, and toast them in the oven for the last few minutes of cooking time as well, but you don't have to. When the chicken is done and the cheese has melted, get ready to assemble the sandwiches. Take the chicken and place it on the bottom half of the bun. Place a few strips of bacon on top of the chicken. Add lettuce and tomato, if you wish. Slather on a ton of Dijon mustard to the top half of the bun. Place it on top and you are ready to eat! We ate ours with some Lay's Kettle Cooked Cheddar chips, which are amazeballs, BTW. Just sayin'.

Italian Sausage Risotto
The next meal was by FAR the best meal I have cooked in a LOOOOONG time. Adam LOVED this because not only did it have lots of sausage, but it was SPICY too. I loved it because I could eat risotto everyday for every meal! It also has lots of onions in it. So, if you aren't into that, then avoid this. :)

1 carton of low-sodium chicken stock
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces of HOT Italian sausage, about 4 sausages
1 shallot, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
3/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
S&P

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Don't let it boil! Keep warm over low heat. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the chopped onion, S&P and the sugar and saute for about 7 minutes until it is softened. Place the softened onion mixture in a bowl and set aside. Next, remove the casings from the sausage by taking a knife and gently make a slice down the sides and pushing the meat out of the casing. Discard the casings. Add the sausage to the pot where the onion mixture was and saute on medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Make sure to S&P. Add the chopped shallot and saute for about 2 minutes until softened. Add the Arborio rice and stir for about 30 seconds. Next, add the wine and cook for about 2 minutes until the rice starts to absorb the liquid. Add about 1/2 cup of stock to the mixture and while stirring constantly, let the rice absorb the stock. Add the remaining stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed each time before adding more. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Once all the stock is used, remove the pot from the heat and add the reserved onion mixture to the pot of risotto, stirring slowly. Add more S&P, if you like. Let the risotto sit for a few minutes before serving!

Barbeque Chicken with Collards
This meal is pretty straight forward too, but dang it was good!

6 chicken tenderloins
Store bought mustard-based barbeque sauce, we used HT Trader's Carolina Mustard brand
1 can of collard greens, we used Southern Style collards from HT
S&P

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush the barbeque sauce all over the chicken tenderloins, and make sure to S&P them generously. Place them on the baking sheet and bake them for about 20 minutes or until the inside is at 170 degrees or no longer pink, flipping them halfway through. Cook the collards in a pot according to instructions, usually about 20 minutes until heated through. Drizzle a little more sauce on top and serve them together hot! Make sure you use new sauce and not the portion you used to brush on the raw chicken! If I had the time, I DEFINITELY would have served this with cornbread, so I suggest you do too!

So, that's it for now! Until next time..

Weeknight Risotto

So lately, I have been OBSESSED with risotto. It is so fun to mix and match different flavors and create yummy, hearty dinners. Here is another one that I made last Wednesday that I had to share:


Gorgonzola and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock

1 package sliced white mushrooms
Olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup (3 oz.) Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Salt
Pepper


This recipe serves 4 to 6 people, so adjust ingredients accordingly.


Recipe:

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over medium high heat. In a heavy-bottomed pot, (the kind with two handles on both sides) heat a few turns of olive oil over medium heat and add shallot and saute until tender. Next, add mushrooms and some salt and pepper to taste. Saute mushrooms until tender, about 6 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pot and set aside under tin foil to keep warm. Add Arborio rice to same pot and stir to coat with oil. Once coated and lightly browned, add wine to the rice and stir until it is absorbed. Then, 1/2 cup at a time, ladle the chicken broth into the rice and stir until absorbed. Make sure all liquid is absorbed in the rice before adding another ladle-full. Keep doing this until almost all the broth has been used. Add the mushrooms back into the rice and gently stir. After all the stock has been used, add the Parmesan and Gorgonzola cheese to the rice and stir until melted. The mixture should now look really creamy! Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Here are some photos of the process:

Sauteing the mushrooms -- Almost done..

Rice absorbing the oil, before the stock has been added..

About one ladle of stock added to the rice..

Stock fully absorbed.. ready to add another ladle-full to the pot..

All stock absorbed and cheeses and mushrooms added..

Finished product!

Yummmm! It's always fun to experiment with food, and risotto is a good one to try new things with! Hope you all had a nice long weekend! I'll be trying some new, and even easier recipes this week, so I'll keep you updated. And, if I ever finish it, I have a list of my favorite kitchen gadgets and tips to pass along, so stay tuned!

As a side note, please keep my family in your thoughts. My Grandma Marshall passed away last night after a struggle with cancer. I'll be in Michigan this weekend with my family and we appreciate any prayers that come our way.

Eat this. Now.

OK. So this post is going to be short. I want to share a recipe. Plain and simple.

In the whirlwind that has been my life over the last month, I have rarely taken the time to research and try any new recipes. I was bored the other night, so I picked up the Food Network Kitchens Cookbook. What a fantastic book, y'all! The recipes border between gourmet and homestyle and are all delicious-looking. I settled for Lemon Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus. Oh. My. Word. I happened to be sitting alone in my apartment when I took the first bite, and I was so overwhelmed by the taste that I just had to call someone. Naturally, this person was my mom. If I could count the times I have called her over the years to tell her the most ridiculous, pointless, silly things that I see/do/hear, you would be amazed. It's quite funny to me that even after 23 years, she still laughs and listens to my ranting. That's love. Even when I call and forget why I called before I could tell her the stupid or random fact. :)

Any who, back to the risotto. OK. So I ate so much, I was stuffed. No jokes. I want to pass this along to you, my readers, because you will die. It's for certain that this is one of my new favorite meals. Just make it. Trust me.*

Lemon Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus**

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus

4 oz. frozen shrimp

Olive Oil

3 cups chicken broth

A pinch of dried thyme

1 shallot, diced (this is a small pinkish onion -- use 1/4 white onion if you can't find a shallot)

1 1/2 cups Arborio (risotto) rice

Salt

Pepper

Zest of half lemon

2 tablespoons butter

Juice of half lemon

Recipe:

Cut asparagus into inch pieces discarding woody stems. Heat a few turns of olive oil in a large Dutch oven pot (this is a pot with two handles on the sides) on medium high heat. Add the shrimp and let warm up for about 5-6 minutes. Take the shrimp out and keep warm on a plate under tin foil. Meanwhile, add chicken broth and thyme to a large pot (just a regular pot this time) and warm up just to a simmer. Add the diced shallot to the pot the where you took the shrimp out and let it cook for about 2 minutes until translucent. Add the rice and stir until it is coated and covered in oil. Ladle in about 1/2 cup of broth to the rice and let it absorb while stirring. It's important to let the rice absorb all the liquid before adding anymore. Keep adding broth to the rice until about half the stock is used. Add the asparagus and lemon zest into the rice and stir gently. Continue ladling 1/2 cup of broth stirring between additions until all the stock is used. When rice is al dente (which is just a fancy term for "firm to the bite") after about 15 minutes, add in the shrimp, lemon juice and butter and stir quickly so it absorbs.*** Remove from the heat and let the risotto rest for a minute before serving. Top with salt and pepper to taste.

Y'all it's so yummy!! Please, please let me know if anyone decides to use this recipe and tell me if you think it's as good as I do!!

I thought I could keep this post short, but I guess not. Ha! Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend! DC is getting snow on Saturday! I'll have to wait for the next time because I'll be visiting Adam's family in Virginia Beach this weekend. And, I made his mom some Pumpkin Spice Biscotti, so I'll post how it turns out soon!

*Sorry I couldn't get a better picture. I had already started eating it and couldn't stop. You know how that goes, right?

**I really edited this recipe from the original because I didn't like some of the ingredients. Does this mean I am honing my craft?? Oh, now I'm excited!

***Now the rice is called risotto because it has absorbed flavor and liquid.