Lavender Scones

A long, long time ago, I posted about my best friend Lauren's Mom's (aka Julie Mom's) lavender scones.  I'm OBSESSED WITH THEM.  I love them so much I can't even tell you.  Not too long ago, I welcomed an exciting treat in the mail - Julie Mom had sent me my own box of lavender scones!!! GET OUT OF HERE I said.  I've been rationing them out like a Civil War soldier at Gettysburg.  I still have a couple left but not for long.  I want them to last forever.

Thanks Julie Mom for my amazing, delicious gift.  I love them so much I just had to share them with you guys.

Here's the recipe!

3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
3⁄4 cup (1 1⁄2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1⁄2 -inch pieces
2-3 tablespoons dried lavender buds (more or less, depending upon availability)
1 cup chilled buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400°F. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large 
bowl. Ad butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 
in lavender buds. Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until moist clumps form. 
Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 
turns. Form dough into 1-inch thick round. Cut out using 2 1⁄2” round biscuit cutter. 
Transfer to baking sheet. Bake until top of scones are golden brown, about 15 minutes. 
Let stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Stay hungry! 

Baked Spaghetti Pie

****RECIPE UPDATE*** - I made this recipe differently this weekend and it came out way more delicious.  See below for revised recipe. 

Salt & Pepper
1 Lb of Spaghetti 
1 Lb of Pancetta, diced
3/4 Cup Freshly Grated Pecorino Ramano 
3/4 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan 
3/4 Cup Mozzarella, Shredded 
1 1/4 Cups Heavy Whipping cream
3 Tbs Butter 
2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped 
8 Eggs, whisked

3 Tbs of Vegetable Oil 

Cook your spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente - 8 - 9 minutes or to the instructions on the box.  Rinse with cold water and let pasta dry for 20 or so minutes in the strainer. Move the pasta around with your hands while cooling so it stays nice and loose. Chop the pancetta and cook in a little olive oil until nice and crispy.  Drain the oil and set aside to cool.  Give the pancetta a rough chop. Heat butter up in skillet over low heat and add garlic.  Saute over very low heat until garlic starts to turn translucent - about two minutes.  Do not overcook garlic - you don't want any color on it at all.  Add cream to the pan.  Continue to heat over medium low heat.  Add pecorino ramano.  Add LOTS of black pepper.  Continue to heat cream for about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until cheese begins to melt.  Remove from heat and cool - about 15 minutes.  Add mozzarella and add parmesan to cooled cream mixture.  Stir.  Add pancetta to eggs.  Mix.  Pour in pasta and mix everything together with your hands.  Add cream mixture.  Season with salt and more pepper.  Mix thoroughly.  Heat a skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes with 3 tbs of vegetable oil.  Add pasta mixture and turn heat down to medium low. Press down with your hands.  Let it cook for 4 minutes without touching it.  Get a spatula and run the spatula around the edges.  Lift underneath and check - if it's golden brown get the spatula and run underneath the pasta and lift very gently.  If the pasta isn't golden brown or sticks, let it cook for another 2-3 minutes or so.  Don't rush it.  Put a cutting board that's been misted with a little Pam or rubbed with oil on top of the spaghetti and flip so you can get the other side crusty.  While the pasta is on the board, add another TBS of oil to the pan and let it heat up over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add pasta and cook for 1 minute.  Without flipping, place pasta in pan in 350 degree oven for 6 minutes.  Remove and let rest for 30 minutes before serving.  Serve at room temperature with a little tomato sauce or as is.

________________________

During our recent trip to Italy, we had a lot of good food.  I mean...a lot.  We went to Positano as well as Rome.  It was some of the best food I had in my life.  

You know when you eat something that you expect will be good but it turns out to be absolutely outstanding?  That was this...the baked spaghetti pie (or whatever they actually call it) in Positano. While we were heading out of town, I went to get a scoop (or four cough cough) of gelati, but then I spotted...this.  I took a hairpin turn on my way to deliciousness.  You should have seen Charlie's face when I came out of the crowded store with this instead of my usual Italian sweet treat.  Here's an actual pic of the spaghetti pie... 

Ever since we got back, Charlie and I have talked about it.  OMG remember that crazy spaghetti cheesy meat thing we had in Positano?  We should try to make it.  We really should.  Well...we finally did.  And it came out great. 

If I don't mind saying so myself. 

Italians use guanciale in lots of recipes.  It's cured pork jowel - think of a saltier and fattier bacon.  It's amazing.  We had it all over Rome in carbonara and other popular pasta dishes gives creamy pastas an extra salty porky kick.  It's only available at specialty stores, so you can easily substitute pancetta, which is what I did.  I asked the deli counter to cut me 1 lb at setting 20 (you'll end up with 5 large, thick disks) and then I just gave it a rough chop.

Brown the pancetta in a little olive oil until nice and golden brown.  About 15 minutes or so over medium high heat.   This is what you want.  Make a little extra because you'll have "casualties."  You have to taste it...ya know...for poison.

While it's browning up, shred yo' cheese. Charlie the cheese thief was roaming around.  Hide yo' cheese, hide yo' wife.  Sorry.  Anyway, I'm not totally sure what cheese they used in Italy, but I went with a mix of provolone and parmesan.  I just asked the deli counter to give me a 3/4 lb block of provolone, which I then just shredded at home.  TA DAAA.  

This is one of my Mom's tricks...Sargento's Artisan Parmesan.  This is the only Parmesan in the history of Parmesan that really melts well.  Luckily, it comes shredded.

Next, whisk up 8 eggs.

Ok - onto the pasta.  You want to cook the spaghetti al dente in salted water (follow box instructions...I cooked mine for 9 mins). Strain and let cool for about 20 minutes.  Next, rinse with cold water and loosen with your hand and then let dry in the strainer for another 10 minutes.  You don't want to work with super hot pasta because it will scramble the eggs and if you let it cool as is, it would form a big block...so rinsing with a little water will help it stay nice and loose.  You can also use left over spaghetti.  I never ever have left over spaghetti...ever...but if you do great and you're probably skinny.  Double great.

Once the pancetta has crisped up and cooled, mix it with both cheeses and the egg....

...like so.

Next, add your pasta.  Get up in there with your hands...you want to make sure everything is well incorporated.

I enlisted Charlie's help because the next few stages are a little complicated.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a generous drizzle of light oil (vegetable, canola, whatever).  Add the pasta mixture.  You will hear it sizzle.  That's what you want.

Press the pasta firmly down.  Now...pay attention.  This next step is important.  Lower the heat down to medium low.  LEAVE THE PASTA and don't touch it for 4 minutes.  Once the 4 minutes is up, get a spatula and run it around the edges to remove the pasta from the sides.  Next, gently run the spatula under the pasta and lift ever so carefully.  If it's golden brown, continue to run the spatula under different areas, and lift.  If the pasta gives you a hard time, let it cook for another two minutes and try again.  Don't force it.  You'll know when a nice brown crust has formed and it's time to move on to the next step.

This thing was HEAV-AY so Charlie had to help me flip it.  He got a wooden cutting board and sprayed it with a little Pam so the pasta wouldn't stick to the board.  He then put the cutting board on top of the spaghetti and flipped it over.  I would have photographed it but I was too busy yelling and micromanaging the situation.

Once the pasta is out and onto the board, place the pan back onto the heat and add some more oil.  Let the oil heat up for 1-2 minutes and then slide the pasta back in.  Let the other side cook for about 1 minute and then place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 6 minutes.

Remove it and let it cool for a minimum of 30 minutes.  If you can wait that long.  I waited for 25 minutes.   Oh boy. Check it.  Check it good.



mmm...

I was very proud of myself with this one.  I think I high fived Charlie more than twice.  Ok maybe four times.

Here's the recipe!

Salt & Pepper
1 Lb of Spaghetti 
1 Lb of Pancetta 
1 Lb of Provolone, Shredded (or four cups shredded)
1 Cup Parmesan, Shredded 
8 Eggs, whisked

3 Tbs of Vegetable Oil 

Cook your spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente - 8 - 9 minutes or to the instructions on the box.  Rinse with cold water and let pasta dry for 20 or so minutes in the strainer. Move the pasta around with your hands while cooling so it stays nice and loose. Chop the pancetta and cook in a little olive oil until nice and crispy.  Drain the oil and set aside to cool.  Add pancetta to eggs and cheese.  Mix.  Pour in pasta and mix everything together with your hands.  Season with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes with 3 tbs of vegetable oil.  Add pasta mixture and turn heat down to medium low. Press down with your hands.  Let it cook for 4 minutes without touching it.  Get a spatula and run the spatula around the edges.  Lift underneath and check - if it's golden brown get the spatula and run underneath the pasta and lift very gently.  If the pasta isn't golden brown or sticks, let it cook for another 2-3 minutes or so.  Don't rush it.  Put a cutting board that's been misted with a little Pam or rubbed with oil on top of the spaghetti and flip so you can get the other side crusty.  While the pasta is on the board, add another TBS of oil to the pan and let it heat up over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add pasta and cook for 1 minute.  Without flipping, place pasta in pan in 350 degree oven for 6 minutes.  Remove and let rest for 30 minutes before serving.  Serve at room temperature with a little tomato sauce or as is.

Stay hungry! 

Minnesota State Fair

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS.  I MADE IT.  I MADE IT TO THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR.  So after about ten years of being with Charlie and unsuccessfully timing our visits to Minnesota, we just so happened to be in town so we went and I ate everything.  Well not everything.  Probably only about 1% of what the fair had to offer, but we did our research and the 1% we did have was absolutely outstanding.  Ready?  Are you ready?  Hold on to your corn husks. 

So we started early.  Like 8:30 early and we bee lined for the bacon wrapped turkey leg from Texas Steak Out.  Words can not describe how delicious this was.  Even though we were diligently trying to pace ourselves, we nearly polished this off.  It was first smoked and then wrapped with bacon and grilled and then kept warm on top of a bed of onions.  I can't even handle it.  

The Corn Roast is famous at the Minnesota State Fair.  They roast super sweet, tender corn in the husks, peel it back, dip it (legit DIP IT) in butter and then let you season it with S&P.  It was amazing. Exactly what you'd expect sweet, in season corn to taste like.

So...those of you that are familiar with the fair know that they serve everything you can imagine on a stick.  Like everything.  I can do without the deep fried Oreo on a stick, or the meatloaf dinner on a stick, but there was no denying that Big Fat Bacon's bacon on a stick was meant for me.  It was cooked PERFECTLY.  Thick cut, salty, crispy, but not too crispy...and they give you chocolate to drizzle on it.  Sounds weird but it wassssssnnnn't.  I die.  For bacon.  I die for bacon a stick.

So these Australian potatoes were not part of the plan.  But we couldn't help ourselves.  They looked so crazy good and different.  They are sliced potatoes, battered and deep fried and topped with cheese or ranch sauce (or both plus bacon if you're me and Charlie).  We also added some dark malt vinegar that was life changing.  I think the camera lens is cloudy from my greasy little finger prints. 

So you guys know that I like sweets but they have to be really over the top crazy special for me to have more than a couple of bites.  Let me put it this way.  I was mowing this - Minneaple Pie's deep fried pumpkin pie with cinnamon ice cream.  This wasn't just good because it was deep fried.  The crust was super duper flaky and the pumpkin filling was sweet but not too sweet and the ICE CREAM. I can't.  If I didn't pack my suitcase to the absolute MAX I would have smuggled three of these home with me.

Yawn. Cheese curds.  Actually...I shouldn't say yawn.  In light of all of the other fantastic and unique food we had, the Minnesota State Fair staple - battered dipped and deep fried cheese curds - were amazing.  I've just had them before.

Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies were everything I dreamed of and more.  They were lovingly and magically made and piled high for us to enjoy.  Ok - so funny story.  We were nearing the end of our food tour and I couldn't bare to throw these out but I literally could not eat another bite.  Well not literally because I ordered a Dole Whip after (see below).  Anyway, we wrapped several napkins around the top and then fashioned them with a hair elastic to seal the cookies in the cone.  My hair looked INSANE but I didn't care.

Ah, Dole Whip.  How I love thee.  They ran out of the vanilla swirl, so I was left with just the pineapple portion but I just had to have it.  The only other place I have EVER seen Dole Whip is at Disney next to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. So I had to.  I just had to.

This is a picture of me after the food tour.

Just kidding.  I didn't take a nap.  We visited the animal barns.  The deep enjoyment I got from this sheep is just embarrassing.  I keep looking at this picture and just cracking up.  I mean OBVIOUSLY sheep wear blankets to keep them clean. 

Here I am thoroughly enjoying my first fair visit.  So little time so many places to visit and try.  I'll be back, fair - I'll be back!

Stay hungry! 

Glass Baby Bottle Roundup & Reviews

After 16 months in the game, I feel safe calling myself an expert in glass baby bottles.  I knew right from the start that I wanted to go glass with Will's bottles to avoid unsavory leaching into his earliest meals.  There are a few more glass bottles on the market now than when we started this journey (ones I'll have to try out next time around!) but here's my rundown on the three that we tried.

First up are Lifefactory bottles, which come with silicone sleeves in fun colors.  At $14.99 for the smaller bottles, they're definitely in the "spendy" camp but I knew they'd be sturdy from dropping my adult-sized Lifefactory water bottle on concrete more than once.

I like the way they look (we've received many compliments on them) but I really like how they've stood up to tons of use.  First they withstood sleepy, clumsy new parents who were perpetually knocking things over and they are still in use with a toddler who likes throwing everything.  Speaking of "still in use", you can see in the photo below that Lifefactory sells tops to turn their bottles into sippy cups once the traditional bottle days are over.  These still get heavy daily use and will still be in good shape when we have another baby down the road.

So although these next bottles don't turn into sippy cups like the Lifefactory ones, these were actually my favorite during the bottle stage of Will's life.  The Phillips AVENT glass bottles have a wide neck which made them super easy to clean and super easy to pour pumped milk into without splashing/wasting any.  These two reasons alone are enough to earn a new mom's love, but I should mention that they were also super sturdy, even without a sleeve (though I see that you can buy those online).  Will has tossed these onto the sidewalk from his stroller before and though I gasped and expected breakage while it happened, they were fine.  They were also wider than the other bottles and easy for Will's little hands to grip once he began feeding himself.  Once you figure out how to get the top on (it needs to be done just so), these are a solid glass bottle choice and one I'd definitely recommend.

The third type of glass bottles we used were Dr. Brown's.  I know other people love these (4.5 stars on Amazon), but I didn't like them at all.  All of the hardware that comes with the bottles (see below) is supposed to help with gas and spit-up.  We didn't notice any remarkable difference (though to be fair, Will wasn't very fussy to begin with) and I hated cleaning all of the parts.  My biggest problem with them, however, was that the neck of two out of four bottles chipped.  Pretty much the biggest problem you can have with a glass baby bottle.  I know that Will didn't get any glass, but I was mad that I had to throw away two full bottles of pumped milk and 50% faulty bottles were enough to have them taken out of our rotation (I carefully used the remaining non-chipped ones for milk storage).

Any experience with glass bottles?  Anything I missed?  This is what worked (& didn't work) for us over the last year but I'd love to hear other suggestions!

Easy Broccoli Bacon Salad

I've been meaning to make an easy broccoli salad for the blog for awhile now.  I remember when I first had it.  It was at a get together at my in law's place (Mom 2 and Dad 2) and Charlie's aunt Chris brought a broccoli salad over that I simply couldn't stop eating.  I had never seen or heard of it before - I don't think New Englanders know about this delish side summer dish so boom.  Here you go. 

This salad is so good!  I really can't express that enough.  It's also surprisingly easy to make.  My kind of recipe.   It has everything you want - a tangy light dressing, smokey bacon, crunch from the broccoli, and then this unexpected tang from the dried cherries.  Not convinced?  There's bacon in it. Oh, I already said that. 

So you mix the dressing together, slice up the red onions, and crisp and crumble the bacon and then mix everything together.  It get's better the longer it sits - you can make it up to 12 hours before.  I would make it at least 2 hours, however, before serving.  It needs some time to mellow fellow.

Ohhh.  Boy.  Charlie was gone this weekend so guess who ATE THE ENTIRE THING.  I have no idea what's going to happen to my stomach later but IT DON'T MATTA.  It was delicious.

Here's the recipe guyyyzzzz.  Double it for a crowd.  This only makes about 4 servings. 

3 Cups of Fresh Broccoli Florets 

1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise 

1/2 Cup of Non Fat Plain Greek Yogurt (you can use sour cream as well)

3 Tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar 

5 Slices of Bacon Crisped and Crumbled (reserve 1 piece to top before serving)

1/8 Cup of Thinly Sliced Red Onion 

1/4 Cup of Dried Cherries 

Mix together the mayonnaise, yogurt, and vinegar for the dressing.  Combine the crisped bacon, thinly sliced red onions, broccoli, cherries and dressing.  Reserve a little of the bacon (if you can) to top the salad before serving.  

Stay hungry! 

Chicago's Windy City Smokeout

Chicago is the best city in the world.  There is always something awesome going on - especially as it relates to food.  Summer is a BLAST in Chicago - and it makes me cringe to think we're already deep into July.  But WHATEVER.  At least I'll have these pics from Chicago's Windy City Smokeout to get me through the subzero temps of winter. 

So you guys ever watch BBQ Pit Masters?  If so, you know exactly who the below BBQ legend is.  Mr Myron Mixon ladies and gentlemen.  We knew his BBQ was going to be at the Windy City Smokeout but not him!  We were very excited to "meat" him and is legendary food.  Sorry.  Bad joke. 

He was so nice and lovely and was bee bopping all over the festival.  What a guy. 

Here is his super famous, unbelievable whole hog.  It was the texture of pulled pork but like 500 times more flavorful.  HOLY COW PIG this was delicious (sorry Caitlin).



We also had smoked wings.  I can't remember if we got these from the Dinosaur BBQ stand or from Myron (food blogger fail).  But these were ridic.



I have no idea where these came from or who bought these because it was late in the day and I was on my 15th Jack Daniels and tea, but they were OUTSTANDING.  Waffle fries topped with pulled pork, pickled jalapenos, cheddar cheese sauce, and BBQ sauce.  I'm still working these bad boys off.

This was the best brisket we had all day.  It was from Dinosaur BBQ and was topped with BBQ sauce and pickled onions and jalapenos.  Check out the smoke ring and the bark.  It basically melted in our mouths.  YUM.

Pic of said brisket bark.  I would seriously give anything to have a bite of that right now.

 This was legit - jalapeno cheddar smoked sausage from Smoque BBQ.  I mean.  WHAT.

Ribs.  Obvi there would be ribs.  There were from Pappy's.  They were amazing.  Fall of the bone tender with a TON of seasoning that formed this chewy flavorful crunch.  Hello.

This was my favorite.  I went back for seconds.  And then I went back for seconds again. Thirds? Fourths?  I lost count.  This was the smoked sausage from Salt Lick...and their BBQ sauce which could seriously make you cry.  I did a big no no and would bring meat from other stands and slather it with Salt Lick's sauce.  I think they were slightly annoyed but who can blame me?

This is our kind of happiness.  Food.  Sun. Whiskey.  Beer.  And friends.  Very good friends.

Stay hungry!

Lately on the Homey-front

Oh hay!  I'm back from a blogging break longer than any one I've taken in the past.  The truth is, I didn't have much going on that's blog-worthy.  Here's what's new:

1) I've started watching The Bachelorette.  How I made it all the way through my twenties without watching any of the series is beyond me.  I started watching because Howard Stern wouldn't stop talking about it and my only regret is not starting sooner.

2) My garden is growing like crazy.  Our herb garden always does pretty well (installed this summer with the same setup as usual) but our veggie garden is doing well this year, too.  Peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes galore.  We're getting to the point in the summer where we're about to be overwhelmed with delicious, fresh produce.

3) After years of regular-dress territory, I've decided that I can maybe pull off a maxi dress.  Perfect for looking fancy when I'm really not and for sitting on the ground when playing with Will.

4) ...and speaking of Will the Baby, we have a walker!  For the last few months he has been getting steadier and steadier on his feet and I feel like I spend most of every day chasing him around the house. He's an expert at de-childproofing (maybe we're just awful at childproofing?) and that's really what's been keeping me busy.

The picture above reminds me that I've wanted to paint our front door a bright, punchy color (and have for a while).  It also makes me realize that I probably won't be doing it for a while.  Naptimes, when most bloggers seem to complete their projects, are usually spent trying to control house chaos or take a nap myself.  How long does the "sleep while the baby sleeps" rule apply?  4th grade?  College acceptance?

I'm off to catch up on Andi's escapades (I missed last night) but I'll leave you with some pictures of our garden to pizza adventure from the other night...

...and the promise to be back soon with some more posts and photos!  Thanks for hanging in there (stay hungry!  stay homey!).