Michelle Suzanne

Go back to: First quarter, Second quarter or Third quarter.


In theater:

-The Skin I Live In: This was quite a strange film. I guess Almodovar's films are usually on the dark and odd side, but this was extremely weird. A few loopholes and a slight creep factor. I'd watch it again just to see other peoples' reactions.


Via Netflix:

-Marwencol : This was a super interesting and strange documentary about a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury and created a fictional 1/6 scale world to obsess over.

-Sylvia : This is a movie about Sylvia Plath. I was worried this movie would be extremely depressing, and it was a bit depressing, but mostly it made me appreciate my life and feel very sorry for people with serious depression.

-The High Cost of Living : I had a hard time believing Zach Braff as a drug dealer, but this movie was good. I didn't get bored and definitely a dark sort of rom-com.

-Tiny Furniture : This was a quirky comedy/coming of age sort of thing. I liked it very much except for the ending.

Go back to: First quarter or Second quarter.

I was slacking in the movie watching department this quarter! I'll have to catch up before the Oscars!

In theater:

-Bridesmaids: So funny and great. I just love Kristin Wiig!

-The Help: I loved this book and the movie was also pretty great. I was not sure how they were going to pull it off, but it was a good adaptation.


Via Netflix:

-Winter's Bone: Beautiful and haunting but a bit slow and anti climactic.
-Gonzo: Interesting but I felt like it started dragging during the last half hour or so.

-Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father: This documentary was very sad and almost unbelievable but also very touching. I really liked it even though it was pretty depressing.

-Gonzo: I forget the full title of this but it is a relatively recent documentary about Hunter S. Thompson. An interesting film about a man I knew very little about.

-Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired: This was a very interesting movie about Roman Polanski and all the drama surrounding him. I liked it very much.

-Bill Cunningham New York: I had heard a lot of great things about this documentary and finally it popped up on Netflix Instant. I loved this movie from start to finish. I wish Bill Cunningham was my grandpa.

I watched a few others, but nothing notable and I was bad about writing my instant impressions.

Second quarter of movies I have seen this year, 2011. (Go back to first quarter...)

In the theater:

Black Swan: Wow, so intense! From the start, not a dull moment. Thought the black swan character could have been more developed, but nonetheless, loved it.

Jane Eyre: A good interpretation of a great novel. I don't see why they had to start in the middle and tell the story in flashbacks but felt the essence of the love story remained intact. Loved it.

The King's Speech: This movie was a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be, though still a tad slow. I liked it a lot, nevertheless, and even watched a show on PBS about the real story the following day.

Beginners: I got to go to a free screening of this film and didn't expect too much from it. The movie was probably the best film I have seen in the theater in a very long time. It was very real and sad, about love and loss. Ewan MacGregor with an American accent is just a little bit weird though.

Midnight in Paris: Owen Wilson and Woody Allen found that time machine I have been searching for forever, and it's in Paris! This movie was so magical and I loved every minute of it, even though Owen Wilson usually kind of annoys me. When it ended I felt a little sad that it was over, the same way I feel about books that I love.

Water for Elephants: I read this book so long ago that I barely remember a lot of the details. I thought this movie was pretty good. I probably would have seen it even if I hadn't read the book, simply because I love circus stuff. But Reese W. and that kid from Twilight just were not very believable. The elephant was the star, obviously.


Netflix:

The 400 Blows: Watched this many years ago and was not disappointed with this revisit. Such a wonderful story of youth.

Dorian Gray: A newish interpretation of the Oscar Wilde story that came out in 2009 I think with Colin Firth playing Lord Henry. Recently read the book and figured why not watch the film? I kind of hated this movie and wished I did not watch it. They really kind of twisted the story, especially the ending and made it into a weird mystery, all while dragging the story on and on for no reason.

Pie in the Sky: A documentary about Brigid Berlin, an artist from the Andy Warhol factory days with OCD. A super interesting lady and I loved this movie.

The Joneses: When you are feeling Californication withdrawals, this dark comedy with David Duchovny and Demi Moore will fit the bill, even if the story is a bit ridiculous.

My Father, The Genius: This documentary focuses on a daughter following around her father, an architect, learning a lot about him and trying to understand him. I liked it quite a lot.

Dogtooth: This was the most disturbing movie I have seen in quite some time. Not unwatchable, very interesting and unpredictable. Netflix definitely had it categorized right under "dysfunctional family movies."

The Kite Runner: For some dumb reason I never read this book or saw this movie. I really enjoyed it and even cried a little bit. Now I wish I had read the book!

Hounddog: This movie sounded like a less depressing version of Precious. However, it was still pretty depressing even if it was filled with Dakota Fanning singing Elvis. Also, I hated the ending. (What gives with endings?!)

Beneath Our Skin: This was a very interesting documentary about Lyme Disease. An eye opening look at this overlooked disease and a peek into a handful of sufferers lives and doctors who treat the disease. I know this sounds boring, but it was seriously very interesting.

Upsidedown, The Creation Records Story: This documentary about Creation Records out of the UK was very entertaining even though it was quite hard to understand at least 1/3 of what everyone in it was saying. A great music documentary, especially if you are into shoegaze or britpop.

Pushing Daisies: Okay this isn't a movie, but I watched almost all of the 22 episodes in two weeks and that show was so great and cancelled too soon! (I am waiting to get the second season from the library to finish the last few episodes!)

I was hoping to get to see a bunch of movies at the Cannes Film Festival in May but that did not happen at all. Bummer.

Any recommendations???

A while back you might remember I posted about a little film that Matthew and I worked on which won the 48 hour go green competition in Portland and was going on to be screened in Las Vegas along with the other winners from each competing city.

Shortly after finding out that we won for Portland, we found out that we had been picked as one of the top five films out of all the films (hundreds?) that participated in this worldwide competition!

So, what does that mean? It means that our film is being screened at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL.

I set out to see as many movies as possible in the theater during 2011 as my new year's resolution. I am going to post a quarterly rundown, including my immediate reactions. I am also going to include notable movies that I watched at home via Netflix instant watch, which tend to be documentaries!

Here goes...

In theater:
-True Grit. Loved it! Have to see the original now.

-The Fighter. Marky Mark and Christian Bale were both good but overall the film was too violent for me. Made me very nervous/anxious. Also the ending was stupid.

-Somewhere. Was excited to see this and it thoroughly bored me. An uninteresting and unfunny version of Lost in Translation. Another stupid ending.

-Tron Legacy in 3d. Creepy computerized Jeff Bridges aside, the movie was pretty cool.

-Barney's Version. Meh. A sad story about a not very likeable guy. Pretty forgettable. Kind of feel like I wasted my free movie ticket on this one.

-Red Riding Hood. I feel like this had the potential to be awesome but it was pretty much just like Twilight but with a little more artsy look and no vampires.

Via Netflix:
-Finding Sean. This was a random documentary I found on Netflix and loved. It centers on a 6 year old boy who grew up in the Haight district of San Francisco in the '60s. Really great footage from that time period.

-Exit Through the Gift Shop. This documentary was so great. I did not really know much about Banksy or street art or this film before I watched it which probably made me like it all the more.

-Alice Neel. I found this on Netflix after watching Exit Through the Gift Shop and was so glad I chose to watch it. Never had heard of this fantastic painter but now am a big fan! The film was made by her grandson which made it all the more personal.

-The Cats of Mirikitani. Another art documentary found from Netflix, this was a very touching and interesting story of a Japanese artist living in New York I had never heard of. His story was very interesting, and it has a happy ending.

-District 9. Finally watched this. My feelings are mixed. It was disarming, stressful, extremely engaging, interesting, sad and maybe too real. Liked it a lot but wouldn't want to watch it again, too draining.

Hey friends, here is the latest film that Matthew and I worked on!

This film won Best Film, Audience Choice, and Best Writing in the 48 Hour Go Green 48 film competition in Portland! The film is now going on to be screened in Las Vegas along with the other competing cities' winning films.

We are so proud of this film and hope you enjoy it also! We have a very talented and fun team and I am glad to be part of it.

Watch the film here! (Vimeo won't let me embed it!)

See the rest of the film race films by Monsieur Soeur on Vimeo.

I am so excited to get this blog back to a regular blog. You know, where I can post whatever I want and not feel restricted by (or guilty about not) posting photo projects.

One thing I want to do is to interject artists that I am mildly obsessed with once in a while. I see so many amazing artists around town, and also online all the time thanks to blogs like The Jealous Curator and Art Hound and I want to share my faves.

So, I was at The Woods, in a pretty grumpy mood, playing Bingo and drinking Bourbon. I went to the bathroom and what did I find? The most amazing paintings on display. Giant and colorful and perfect. I stood and stared far longer than anyone waiting for the bathroom. I immediately made note of the artist and spent quite a while the next day ogling and reading and marveling about Joan Hiller.

This post might be a bit obnoxious, and my original plan did not work because of java.

In any case, in 2010 I did not top my 2009 record of 27 books read, as I only finished 20 books. However, of these 20 I really loved a lot of the books I read and rated only four of them with a 3 or 2 star rating! I am a pretty generous rater, but still. 16 out of 20 books rated with 4 or 5 stars is a pretty good ratio if you ask me.

I reread a handful of books I have loved in the past this year which is something I don't normally do, but I am glad I did with these few (Kafka on the Shore, Geek Love, People of Paper) because I really do love them all!

Again I am not going to post reviews for every book, check out My GoodReads page to see more review type stuff. However, I will tell you about a few of my faves.

My favorite of the (previously unread) books that I read this year was Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. While I did not bother to write anything about this book when I originally finished it, I would like to say now that this book surprised me by making me laugh and cry, and I really thought the description on the cover and on amazon did not do this book justice at all. Beautifully written and I really did not want it to end, which is how I feel about all of my favorite books. Recommended to me by my Mostly Stitches counterpart, Vanessa.

My second favorite was No Wolf by Richard Stofle. Now I may be a tad biased because I have worked with and known Mr. St. Ofle (as he is known in certain circles) for quite a few years by now. But, again I have to say that this book surprised me. I did not know that Richard had this very creative and entertaining and interesting and heart wrenching writer inside of him. If I haven't recommended this book to you in the past year, now is the time. I would loan it to you, but struggling artists and what not, you should just buy it. (You can also read a chapter of the book on that website if you wish!)

My third favorite was The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This book had been recommended to me by a friend multiple times over the past few years and for some reason I never picked it up. It sounded too pretentious, too deep, too hard to read. But instead I found it immediately interesting, pretentious in the best almost comical way, and perfectly dark. I read it extremely quickly, loving every page. Definitely read this one if you haven't! And thanks again Mandy for recommending it!

Honorable mention goes to What is the What by Dave Eggers. I don't even care if half of it is made up, I enjoyed it even though it made me very sad. The hopefulness was astounding.

I got a Kindle for Christmas from my most favorite person so if you are wondering what to get me for my birthday (January 27th, I'll be 30!), Amazon.com gift cards or items from my Wishlist or even just book recommendations are more than a girl could ever want.

Now here for a lovely grid of the 20 books I read in 2010.

Day 365. December 31, 2010. Spent New Year's Eve with the best people eating the best food and having the best time.


There were days when I felt like this project would never end, but actually 2010 went by pretty quickly. It was a great year and I am looking forward to 2011!

My only real resolution is going to be to go see more movies in the theater, because I just love it and I think I only saw like 5 movies in the theater in 2010, which is just crazy. I also am going to work on trying to think more positively and manage my money better. No promises on those two, though.

Happy New Year!!! :)

Most of these photos are Christmas related, but here is the absolute best one, maybe of the entire year! Hope everyone had a truly magical holiday!

Day 355. December 21, 2010. An army of Santas is creepy and awesome.

See all the photos from my photo a day project here!

One more post about this photo a day project and then this blog will get back to normal. Books, food, adventures, and fun times all sprinkled with photos. :)

So close to finishing!!!
I am only posting two photos from this bunch. One is just miraculous and one is just too adorable.

Day 336. December 2, 2010. How can you not marvel at this magical leaf!?


Day 337. December 3, 2010. Itty bitty deers and colorful lights to decorate the mantle.


The next photo a day post may be the last!
View all of the photos from 2010 here.

Merry Christmas!

Wow only about a month left! Here are my favorite three photos out of this group.

Day 324. November 20, 2010. Drove over the Burnside Bridge and saw the new Portland, Oregon sign! I approve.


Day 330. November 26, 2010. Experimenting with bokeh effects from a rooftop during the tree lighting downtown.


Day 332. November 28, 2010. Trekked to Sherwood to Chop down a Christmas tree! The tiny ones are so cute!


p.s. See all photos from this series on Flickr!

Wow, two weeks behind again!
Here are a few of my favorites from this group!
I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by.

Day 308. November 4, 2010. Church marquee wisdom on my walk home made me smile.


Day 318. November 14, 2010. I always marvel at how pretty the St. Johns Bridge is, every time.


Day 313. November 9, 2010. Fall trees are the prettiest trees.


Day 321. November 17, 2010. The rain has definitely started and that bus better get here soon.

Only 2 months left!

Here are two of my favorite photos of these 14.
Day 296. October 23, 2010. 72 hour film race creations made by me and Meghann!


Day 302. October 29, 2010. This tree outside my work was wearing a scarf, and it wasn't even very cold outside!


See the full set of photos from 2010 so far here.

Here are my three favorite photos out of these nine! Fall is the best.

Day 285. October 13, 2010. The sky filled with chemtrails as I wanted for the bus.


Day 288. October 15, 2010. I just love the pretty fall trees!


Day 291. October 18, 2010. I walked right past this guy and then went back to take his picture while crossing my fingers it would not sting me!

It has been a busy month, friends.

Here is my favorite photo from the last 27 days. I wanted to pick this guy up and bring him to work with me!

Day 281. October 8, 2010. On second thought, I should have moved this guy out of the middle of the sidewalk but I was in a rush!


As always, you can see all the photos from this photo a day project on Flickr.

I found a great site that will let me print a book filled with all of these photos! I think I will make that happen after this project is over, and this blog can get back to normal.

Wow, this year is almost over! I finally switched my camera to widescreen, don't know what the hold up was before. Here are my fave 3 photos from this bunch of 8.

p.s. keep your eyes peeled to Mostly Soup as I intend to kick start it back to life with soups and stews and maybe even bisques and risottos over the fall and winter.

Day 249. September 6, 2010. A drive over the beautiful St. Johns bridge on a dreary evening.


Day 251. September 8, 2010. Celebrating Vanessa's birthday with lots of pasta and wine.


Day 256. September 13, 2010. Was surprised to find this mysterious pink glob was hard, like a seed pod.

Day 240. August 28, 2010. Saw these pretty and perfect rose buds in the neighborhood


Day 241. August 29, 2010. Sunday morning scones with blueberries from our yard!


Day 242. August 30, 2010. Walking home I noticed the mailbox that thinks it is a tree.


Day 243. August 31, 2010. Out way past my bedtime having fun, waiting for the bus in the rain.


Day 244. September 1, 2010. Late night happy hour at Gustav's with our buddy, Buck.


Day 245. September 2, 2010. The final batch of coconut rum cupcakes for Cory & Perry's wedding. Pretty and tasty!


Day 246. September 3, 2010. In Salem for the weekend, a whirl of color.


Day 247. September 4, 2010. Setting up flowers for the reception while family photos are being taken is a fun job.


Day 248. September 5, 2010. Walked through a creepy deserted part of Salem before coming home to Portland.

Here are photos from the last 4 days. Enjoy!

Day 236. August 24, 2010. After a lovely evening with friends, this was the last thing I saw before I fell asleep.


Day 237. August 25, 2010. This adorable owlie keeps watch over our house when we are away.


Day 238. August 26, 2010. These flowers make me think of Halloween.


Day 239. August 27, 2010. The tiniest, cutest succulents. Each was about 1/4 inch across!

Here are my three favorite photos from this batch of 10. At this point I am pretty dang close to quitting this project every other day.

Day 227. August 15, 2010. Late night slow exposure macro shots are my new fave.


Day 232. August 20, 2010. Walked up to meet some friends for happy hour and found this tiny bike rusting away outside.


Day 234. August 22, 2010. Heard lots and lots of this lovely sound thanks to a new amp that my favorite bought.

Day 224. August 12, 2010. Walking home from Hollywood Theater, these neon lights caught my eye.


Day 225. August 13, 2010. Found this 'single molecule of a good neighborhood' in the park by Lloyd Center.

This was seriously the most delicious thing that I have made in a while. The moment I saw this recipe in my email from The Kitchn I knew I had to make it as soon as humanly possible and I am so very glad I did.

I have always loved hot and sour soup at Chinese restaurants, though I have not had it in a very long time. This soup was not quite exactly the same as how I remember traditional hot and sour soup, but the flavors were very similar. This soup is much different than soups I typically make, flavorwise, but I loved it. I never thought I would create such a close replica of hot and sour soup at home as quickly and easily as it was with this recipe.

I modified the recipe a touch from the original, but only adding an onion and shredded chicken. I didn't have any home made stock to use, but store bought worked great for me. I could not stop oohing and aahing over how delicious it was! In fact I think as soon as I finish with this post I will go eat another bowl of it.

I highly recommend making this soup if you are in dire need of a winter blues remedy, as the original post suggested. It definitely made me happy.  This could very easily be made vegan by omitting the chicken and using veggie broth. I also think it would be great to add more vegetables like carrots or using brussels sprouts in place of cabbage or tossing some spinach in or any other veggie that needs to get used up. The broth is so flavorful!



Without further ado, here is the recipe as I made it.

Hot and Sour Mushroom, Cabbage and Rice Soup: (makes about 8 servings)

Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon canola oil
-1 small onion, julienned
-1/2 pound cremini or shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
-1 to 3 jalapeno peppers, finely diced (I used 2 red peppers because the store didn't have jalapenos, and I wish I had used more, but topping the finished soup with Sriracha chili sauce did the trick!)
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-One 3-inch lump ginger, grated, or 1 tablespoon ginger puree
-3 limes, zested and juiced
- 8 cups broth — turkey, chicken, or vegetable
-2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
-1/2 cup jasmine rice
-1/2 small head green cabbage, cut in half and shaved thin 
-2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more to serve
-Chili garlic sauce or kimchi, to serve

 

Process:

-Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent.

-Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes without stirring. Toss the mushrooms after 5 minutes and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until well-browned.

- Add the diced peppers, garlic, and ginger and cook for about five minutes or until fragrant and slightly softened. (This smelled incredible!)



-Add the lime zest, chicken, and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

-Remove chicken from pot, add the rice, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the rice is just barely soft.

-While the rice is simmering, shred the chicken.

-Once the rice is barely soft, add the shredded chicken back to the pot along with the shaved cabbage, lime juice, and soy sauce.

-Simmer for another few minutes or until cabbage is hot.

-Serve with extra soy sauce, lime wedges, and kimchi or chili garlic sauce.

 Now I'm hungry. Enjoy!

If you find yourself home alone on a Sunday with a bit of rain outside and a hankering for an easy, delicious and hearty soup, this is the recipe for you.

I got this recipe out of The Big Book of Soups and Stews and went to the store during a brief sun break to get a few ingredients.

Here is the recipe as I made it.

Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil
-2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes with juice
-1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 teaspoon dried basil
-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
-1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
-1 teaspoon salt
-pepper to taste
-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), cut into bite-sized chunks
-1/4 cup dry white wine
-1 1/4 cups uncooked orzo
-1/2 of an onion, diced
-8 oz mushrooms, quartered
-2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
-2 large handfuls of baby spinach


Directions:
1. Warm butter in large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, saute until soft. Add mushrooms, saute for about 5 minutes until mushrooms are soft.


2. Add broth, tomatoes, garlic, basil, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.


3. Add chicken, wine, orzo, and zucchini. reduce heat to one step above low and simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through and orzo is tender.


4. Stir in spinach.


5. Once spinach is wilted, serve and enjoy!


This was seriously so quick and delicious. I would recommend cutting the zucchini slices into half moons so they would get a tad squishier, they were a bit too crunchy for me.

Enjoy!

I had a very hard time choosing what to make for dinner last night. I knew I would have the house to myself, and could take my time and make whatever sounded most delicious. I decided I should make something that would provide lots of leftovers for lunches the rest of the week. I wanted something with tomatoes and I wanted to soak up the yummy juices with delicious bread. I figured chicken would be cheapest. After scouring the internet for what felt like forever (how hard does it sound to find a recipe that suited my needs??), I finally decided to make this recipe from Martha Stewart. Below is the recipe as I made it, with only a few adjustments:

Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

-about 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken. I used 2 breast halves and 4 small thighs.
-Coarse salt and ground pepper
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-a little over 1 pound mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-1 large can (28 ounces) whole stewed tomatoes
-half of an onion, quartered
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
-a few dashes of paprika
-a few dashes of cayenne pepper
-delicious hot bread to soak up all that juice (or rice if you prefer)

Directions

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large (5-quart) saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Cook chicken, turning when it easily releases from the pan, until golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.


2. Add mushrooms; cover, and cook until softened, about 5 to 10 minutes.


3. Add garlic, tomatoes, onion, oregano, thyme, paprika, cayenne pepper, and a little bit of salt and pepper.


4. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, until tomatoes have broken down, about 20 minutes.


5. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan; cover, and cook until chicken is opaque throughout, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn chicken to coat with sauce, and serve.


I felt like something was missing from this, and it might be because usually when I make something like this it is spicy. This was not spicy at all but it was super tasty. I ate it with a ton of bread for dinner and then boxed up the rest with rice into FOUR perfect lunch containers.

I liked the chicken breasts more than the thighs, and I think this would be delicious without meat, just maybe with some portabella mushrooms in place of the meat. Or steak! I think I will be making many variations of this dish in the fall.

Enjoy!

1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make topping: Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, four minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a 9" cake pan. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly.

Make batter: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)

Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cake stand for five minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Invert a plate over cake pan and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and pan firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of pan. Sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.

Serve cake just warm or at room temperature. And add some vanilla ice cream, you won't regret it.

Do ahead: Cake may be made one day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Caramel making and nesting

Batter making

Some rum for sprinkling on the final cake

Pretty as a picture

I have said it before, and I will say it again: I love mushrooms. LOVE.

This stew is very beefy but also has a ton of mushrooms and is quite a crowd pleaser. I made this for Matthew and my 3rd annual Christmas Party as a step up from the Hungarian mushroom soup I made the prior two years. I wanted to make something I didn't have to hover over while getting ready for the party! I forgot to take pictures the first time but luckily I had a special request to make it again recently and made sure to document thoroughly. The recipe makes a ton of food, so serve it for a dinner party!

The recipe I used is from Sunset magazine and I found it on MyRecipes.com. I didn't follow the instructions to a T, mainly because I am a pretty lazy cook and look for shortcuts wherever I can.

This is a little more work than a normal slow cooker recipe, simply because you make a sauce to pour over the meat and cook the mushrooms separately. But don't be discouraged! The stew is definitely worth it. To make it easy on myself this last time, I made the sauce and poured it over the meat the night before and let it marinate all night in the refrigerator. In the morning before work, I turned the slow cooker on and when I got home from work I cooked the mushrooms. It worked out perfectly and made it seem like less work.


Here is the recipe as I made it:

Ingredients:
-3 pounds boned, fat-trimmed beef chuck
-1 orange (2 1/2 in. wide), rinsed
-1 onion (about 8 oz.), peeled and finely chopped
-3 cloves garlic, chopped
-About 1 cup beef or chicken broth
-1 cup red wine
-1/2 cup port
-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-1 teaspoon dried thyme
-5 very thin slices of peeled fresh ginger (quarter size)
-2 pounds mushrooms
-3 tablespoons butter
-1/4 cup flour
-Salt and (lots of) pepper

Preparation:
1. Rinse meat; cut into 3 to 4 inch lengths (for chuck, about 1 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches wide) and place in a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker.


2. With a vegetable peeler, pare orange part of peel from orange and sliver it; save orange for other uses.


3. In a 2-quart sauce pan, combine orange peel slivers, chopped onion, 1 cup broth, wine, port, vinegar, soy sauce, thyme, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat.


4. Pour liquid over meat. Turn slow cooker to low.


5. Put cover on slow cooker and cook on low until meat is very tender when pierced, 6 to 7 hours.

6. Rinse and drain mushrooms; trim off and discard stem ends. Cut mushrooms into quarters and place in a 12 inch frying pan with butter.


7. Skim off and discard fat from liquid in slow cooker. Ladle 1 cup of liquid from slow cooker into pan with mushrooms. Stir mushrooms often over high heat until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are lightly browned, 13 to 17 minutes.


8. When your mushrooms are almost finished (liquid almost evaporated), eyeball the remaining liquid in the slow cooker. There should be plenty of liquid covering the meat, about 2 cups. If you think you don't have enough liquid, add some broth. You want the meat to still be covered with liquid. (Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this!)

9. Add the cooked mushrooms to the slow-cooker.

10. In a small bowl, mix flour with about a cup of the hot liquid from the slow cooker. Whisk vigorously until flour is dissolved. Pour evenly over meat and mix gently to blend with liquid still in slow cooker, trying not to break up the meat too much. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the mushrooms and meat mingle together for about 20 minutes in slow cooker.

11. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice! (I prefer potatoes to rice, and haven't tried egg noodles but think it would be delicious!)

I was so excited to have friends visiting during cozy fall and thought what better way to spend an evening than sipping wine and making soup with some of my most favorite ladies. I hunted high and low for the perfect vegetarian friendly recipe that we all would devour and found this one!

Though the recipe called for red lentils, I only found generic 'lentils' at the store. I was pretty annoyed but I honestly have no idea if red ones taste different or if they are just red for show.

Everyone ate lots of this soup and it made way more than enough for us four girls and my mister. He and I continued to eat this soup all week!

We doubled most of the spices in the recipe linked above. You could blame the wine we were drinking, but we all agreed more spices could only mean more flavor and who doesn't want that?! I was so anxious to eat this that I forgot to add the frozen peas that the original recipe included, and I was cursing myself on that one. I love little snappy peas in thick stew-like dishes.

Without further ado, here is the Morrocan Lentil Soup as interpreted by Mostly Soup (and friends):

Ingredients:
-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
-3 small onions, chopped
-5 cloves of Garlic, minced
-2 Celery stalks, chopped
-1 Carrot
-3 tsp Turmeric
-3 tsp Cinnamon
-4 tsp ground Cumin
-1 tsp fresh Ginger grated or 1/2 tsp ground
-about 4 dashes of cayenne pepper
-salt and pepper to taste
-8 cups of vegetable stock
-12 ounce pack of lentils
-1 tablespoonp Tomato Paste
-3 potatoes peeled and cubed (you could also use sweet potatoes or squash!)
-1 can stewed Tomatoes (I got tomatoes stewed with sweet peppers and onions)
-Sour cream and fresh parsley for serving

1. In large soup pot heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions, carrot, garlic, and celery, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5-10 minutes.


2. Add salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.


3. Add veggie stock, lentils, tomato paste, potatoes and tomatoes (including juices), breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until lentils are cooked to desired consistency.


(3 1/2. This is where you would add in the frozen peas and let them cook for about 5 more minutes if you are using them!)

4. Once your lentils are perfect, taste the broth and add salt/pepper as needed. Ladel into bowls. Dollop each with sour cream and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with pita bread!


My favorite thing about this soup was the tomatoes. They were so tasty, bursting with all the flavors they were simmering in for what seemed like ages! I wish I would have frozen half of this to eat later!

Enjoy!

I know, this sounds like a strange combination of flavors. That's exactly why I wanted to try it. I thought to myself, "That sounds weird, but I like all those things so let's try it out!" V came over for some pre-halloween crafting and I made us a feast.

The original recipe arrived in my email from Real Simple. I realize that I post a lot of recipes from them, but its just so convenient to have recipes that are delicious randomly emailed to you daily! I cannot keep up with all the amazing recipes out there on the internet!

In any case, to get back on track, Here is the recipe as I made it, only a few substitutions. (dried cranberries instead of raisins, chicken breast tenders instead of thighs, and just less of everything because I didn't want to feed 8 people.)

Chicken and Pepper Stew With Olives & Cranberries
Makes about 4 to 6 servings, depending how hungry you are!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (but regular would work too)
kosher salt and black pepper
10 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders (about 2 to 3 pounds)
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 each of red, yellow and green bell peppers, sliced.
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup pitted olives (I used kalamata)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cups long-grain white rice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. In batches, brown the chicken, turning, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate as it browns and add more oil as necessary.
3. Add the bell peppers, garlic, 1/4 cup of the broth, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pot. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until the peppers begin to soften, 4 to 6 minutes.
4. Add the olives, cranberries, and the remaining 1 cup of broth and bring to a boil. Nestle the chicken in the vegetables and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Uncover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. (Maybe longer, I might have also used too much liquid)
6. Twenty minutes before the stew is done, cook the rice according to the package directions. Serve with the stew.



I thought this would have been pretty tasty with some feta cheese on top but I didn't think of it when I was at the store. It was kind of a salty sweet combo with the olives and cranberries. The chicken was falling apart and would have been extra delicious if I had used thighs, but the chicken tenders are what I had on hand. This also heated up nicely for lunch the next day!

I always forget to take pictures of the process, but seriously, this was delicious!

I was craving cornbread. V's brother suggested black bean soup via Facebook and I set off to find the most delicious black bean soup I could find. Plain old black bean soup sounded kinda blah so I chose this recipe as a starting point.

I cheated a bit because I was too impatient to make my own black beans or to let canned ones stew for a while for added flavor. Instead I bought Trader Joe's Cuban black beans in a can because they are already a little bit spicy. If you want to stew your own or spice up a regular can of black beans, check out the original recipe that I linked to above! I also omitted chipotle powder because I didn't see any at the store and I added bacon and chicken andouille sausage to the mix.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Sweet & Spicy Black Bean Soup

2 cans black beans (Trader Joe's Cuban black beans were perfect!)
4 slices of bacon, diced
2 spicy chicken andouille sausages, diced
1 1/2 onion, 1/4 inch dice
2 celery stick, 1/4 inch dice
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cumin
2 tablespoons medium heat red chile powder
a few shakes of cayenne pepper and garlic powder
14 oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1 cup frozen corn
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime
Cilantro, minced for garnish

Cook the bacon and sausage in a large soup pot until brown. Remove from pot and set aside.

If needed, add some oil to the pan and toss in the onion, celery, and sweet potato. Saute until lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the garlic, cumin, chile powder, cayenne, and garlic powder along with some salt and pepper. Saute a few minutes more.

Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, bell pepper, corn, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered. Puree 1/2 of the soup. Return to the pot. Add the lime juice and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve with cornbread!



This recipe made a ton of soup, a giant pot that my boyfriend and I ate all week. It was perfectly spicy, a hint of sweetness from the corn and peppers, and it was extremely delicious. It tasted even better the second day. Cornbread was a perfect accompaniment, and I will definitely make this again!

The lovely and generous V gave me a crock pot! It was my turn to host Mad Men Monday so I decided to use my new slow cooker to make a hearty beef stew. The only thing I had made in a crock pot prior to this was pot roast, so making a stew was kind of new and I was a little unsure about seasonings, etc.

I searched the internet high and low and found this recipe on Taste As You Go. I liked the idea of using sweet potatoes and made a few modifications. Here is the recipe as I made the stew:

2 pounds stew beef, cut in 1-inch cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
olive oil
1 large white onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 14.5-ounce can beef broth
1/2 cup beer
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon dry nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 cup frozen green beans
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Brown beef on all sides, working in batches if necessary.

Place sweet potatoes in the base of a preheated 4-5-quart slow-cooker. Layer on the browned beef, onions, garlic and ginger. Pour in beef broth, beer, and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle in nutmeg and thyme.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove about cup of the broth and place in a bowl. Whisk in heaping teaspoon of flour until there are no more lumps. Add the broth and flour mixture back to the slow-cooker. Add frozen green beans and cook the stew for an additional 15-20 minutes.



I served with cous cous, but bread would have been better. The sweet potato didn't come through as much as I would have liked, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it! Definitely was a satisfyingly hearty cold evening meal.

Having newly discovered my love of baking, thanks to those cupcakes I posted about whenever that was, I decided to make some scones last weekend for breakfast. Scones are another new love of mine, since I recently discovered that scones are delicious and flaky like a biscuit and not hard as rocks as I had been led to believe by a certain big coffee company's poor excuse for scones! In any case, I had been wanting to make something with the blueberries that popped up in our front yard and I found this tasty recipe on Joy of Baking.

Without further ado:
Blueberry Streusel Scones!

Ingredients:
Blueberry Streusel Scones:
-2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
-1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
-2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-6 tablespoons (85 grams) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
-1 cup (150 grams) fresh blueberries
-1 large egg, lightly beaten
-1 teaspoon (5 grams) pure vanilla extract
-1/2 cup (120 ml) milk or cream
-Brushing tops of scones:
-Milk or Cream

Streusel Topping:
-1/4 cup (55 grams) brown sugar
-1/4 cup (35 grams) all purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-2 tablespoons (30 grams) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
For the Scones: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in the blueberries. In a small measuring cup combine the cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough or the scones will be tough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (4 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into four pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk.

For the Streusel Topping: In a small bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until crumbly. Top each scone with a teaspoon or two of the streusel mixture. Cover and refrigerate any leftover streusel mixture.

Bake the scones until nicely browned, about 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored for a few days. Makes 8 scones.

Note: I did not have any baking powder! so after a little bit of research, I put in about 1 teaspoon of baking soda and about 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I also discovered mid mix that I did not have vanilla! I just threw in a tiny extra sugar. The scones still turned out delicious though probably not perfect. We ate them all up over the next few days and I marvelled at my newly acquired baking skills. These also weren't nearly as sweet as we expected they would be, given the streusel topping. Super tasty and a great consistency, even with my jankity improvisations!

Sadly, none of my photos turned out so hot, but you can get the idea:

I was asked to make cupcakes for my boyfriend's little sister's wedding on Labor Day weekend and V pointed me to Ming Makes Cupcakes. I drooled over all the recipes there for a while before deciding I definitely wanted to make something with Coconut. T he bride to be let me pick whatever kind I wanted and I chose to make Cupcake 30, Coconut Rum Cupcakes with Coconut Creem Cheese Frosting.

Since I am not much of a baker, not that I thought it would be hard, but simply because I wanted to make sure the recipe worked okay, I did a test run a couple of weeks ago and a bunch of people (including Ms. Co-blogger V) came over to help me and Matthew eat them as well as to drink the rest of the coconut rum, which was fun and everyone said that these cupcakes were amazing.


Coconut Rum Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ingredients:
Cupcakes -
-2 cups flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-½ tsp salt
-1¼ cups light brown sugar
-1 stick of butter
-1 egg
-1 cup buttermilk
-⅓ cup coconut rum

Frosting -
-4 oz. cream cheese
-½ stick of butter
-2 cups confectioners sugar
-3 tbsp coconut rum

Directions:
Cupcakes-
Mix flour, soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add buttermilk and flour mixture alternatively while mixing. Add rum and mix well. Pour into lined cupcake pan. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting-
Mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Frost cupcakes.



This recipe was simple, and I am glad I bought a little electric mixer for $8 to help me with the process because it was about 95 degrees the day I did my test run. Everyone agreed that they were delicious and not too sweet. They were almost like muffins but I loved them. I topped them with shaved coconut by Bob's Red Mill and thanks to all of my taste testers, these were gone within 1 1/2 days!

Can't wait to make these again in a few days for the big day!