I had a huge craving for homemade pizza one night and was thinking of ways to make a somewhat healthy-ish version. Then I came across a recipe for a healthy-ish calzone and completely forgot the whole pizza idea. It was on the Mayo Clinic website, which is super random and not normally a place I would go to find recipes. But they actually have some good, nutritious ideas that you can always change to better suit your tastes (i.e. make less nutritious and more delicious).

Chicken and Spinach Calzone:

• 2 t olive oil
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 medium onion
• 8 oz. part skim mozzarella (or ricotta) cheese
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 4 T parmesan cheese
• 2 egg whites, separated
• Whole wheat dough (you can find this either in the cheese section or bakery of your grocery store; it's in a little bag)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the chicken first, in a frying pan with olive oil. Just place it in the olive oil over medium-high heat until it's golden brown and cooked through. Once it cools a bit, cut it into cubes, or strips like I did.

If you want to add onion (the original recipe didn't call for it, but I added it), chop it up and cook it in a frying pan in some olive oil until it's soft and translucent.

The recipe called for ricotta cheese, but I'm not the biggest ricotta fan, so I used mozzarella instead (note: after taking Stir's cooking class and learning how to make my own ricotta cheese, I am now a much bigger fan of ricotta cheese. Yum). I know a lot of people just use the Kraft parmesan cheese or whatever, but I'm telling you right now, buy a block of parm and grate it. It's really not that hard and it's SO SO SO much better. They don't even taste comparable. I also threw in some low-fat feta cheese because um, I could live off cheese? I'm currently trying to convince my sister to have a cheese course at her wedding. Good idea, right?

Anyway, combine the cheeses, spinach, garlic, onion, parsley, and 1 of the egg whites in a big bowl and mix until blended.

Now you want to prepare your dough. Break it into 6 equal-sized pieces and form each into circles. It's easiest if you place these circles on a floured surface so they don't get all sticky-like. You're supposed to use a rolling pin to form the dough into ovals 8 inches long and 6 inches wide. Mine were...not like this. They were in all sorts of odd circle-ish shapes and you know what? It worked.

Break your other egg white into a bowl and brush the edges of the dough with the egg white. You could also use olive oil, but the egg white makes it a bit healthier. Now, place some chicken in the middle of the dough, along with some of the spinach mixture.

Now fold the dough over, pressing the edges together. Crimp the edges with a fork and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat for the rest of the dough circles. I had an insanely ridiculous amount of filling left over. Which then sat in my fridge for a week before I realized I had no reason to keep it and threw it out.
Bake the calzone for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees, until they're brown and crispy-looking.


OK, so maybe by the time I finished putting all the cheese in, it wasn't the healthiest thing in the world. But I did use all pretty light cheeses that also added tons of flavor to the calzone. And they made a really filling and satisfying meal. The best thing is, you can totally add whatever you want to the calzone. I wanted onion so I added onion. But you could also throw in mushrooms, peppers, or anything your heart desires.

You could even forget all about the healthy aspect of the calzone and use pepperoni, sausage, and non-whole wheat dough. The calzone is your oyster. Or um, something like that.
[Sues]

Back on Halloween Sara made some terrific Halloween Bark, with white chocolate, pretzels, oreos, candy corn, and sprinkles. The salty/sweet combo, as you may already know, is one of my all time favorites. I fell so in love with this bark that the following night we all went out to a bar and I brought my own little bag snack on... don't judge. Last weekend Sara made another version of the bark, but for Christmas, and included Christmas peppermint candy corn. Again, unbelievable. I brought a bag to the Celtics game the following evening. Ha!

So for my family Christmas this week, I decided to give this whole bark thing a try on my own. I wasn't really following a recipe, which, I think, is the cool thing about this. You can sort of toss in what you want or whatever makes sense to you and your taste buds, next time I'm experimenting with bacon. Obviously.

Here's what I used:


White chocolate melting wafers. After searching high and low for these bad boys (apparently they're quite popular around the holidays) I ended up calling iParty and they had a 5 pound bag they so nicely put on hold for me. From what I hear, when making bark you should use these wafers, they melt and pour a lot better than just a regular bar of chocolate. You can buy them at most craft stores or any baking type of store that sells candy. I also used pretzels, Oreos, m&ms, green and red sprinkles, and candy cane peppermint Hershey kisses.



On a baking sheet I broke some pretzels up and tossed some seasonal m&ms in.


Now for the oreos.


The white chocolate wafers melted. I popped them in the microwave for a minute or so and stirred until they melted nicely. I sort of eyeballed the amount, maybe a couple cups or so.


Pour the melted chocolate over the candy mixture on the baking sheet. After that I added the peppermint Hershey kisses and sprinkles, just so they would sit nicely in the chocolate. It looks like Christmas exploded on a baking sheet and I loved it!


Pop the baking sheets in the fridge until hardened. I was surprised at how quickly they hardened, maybe a couple hours or so, but I left them in overnight.

Once hardened break into small pieces.

I wish every morning I could wake up to something this cool! Not only is this bark really easy and quick to make, but I love that it can be taken from season to season just by getting creative and playing around with some fun candy... or bacon ;)

I hope everyone has a very happy, safe, and blessed holiday!

[Chels]

As you probably have already noticed, I'm kind of obsessed with peanut butter. More specifically, I'm a huge fan of Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter. So, when Sara (my fellow peanut butter obsessor) told me about a holiday recipe contest Peanut Butter & Co. was holding, we immediately decided to enter. Now, what to make? Something unique and delicious. Somehow, while walking to my apartment, Sara came up with the ultimate idea: Peanut Butter S'mores Bread Pudding. It's still a mystery how exactly this just popped into her head, but I'm pretty sure this sets her future as an expert recipe creator.

The only rule of the contest was that the recipe must include at least a 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter; any flavor. Obviously not a problem. Sara and I chose the Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.


Neither of us had made bread pudding before, but we knew the basic ingredients involved, so we just jumped in to see what we could come up with.

Here's what else you'll need to make our Peanut Butter S'mores Bread Pudding:

• 10 slices of hearty bakery style bread, slightly stale (we used a thick honey oat bread from When Pigs Fly)
• 9 standard size graham crackers
• 2 cups mini marshmallows (we used big ones and cut them up, but mini would be better)
• 1 1/2 cups Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter and Co. peanut butter (obviously we used more than the 1/2 cup guideline)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 12 cups whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 t vanilla extract

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a 8x8 baking pan, layer your bread to cover the bottom of the pan. We used 5 slices, but it obviously depends on the size of your bread. You may need to cut pieces to fit.

Then layer your graham crackers to fit over the bread.

Spread 1 cup of your mini marshmallows over the graham crackers.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat your peanut butter over low heat to liquify it, taking care not to burn it.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk cream, milk, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract until combined. Then slowly add the liquified peanut butter to the mixture, while whisking. Don't worry if some lumps form.

Pour half of the liquid mixture over the pan with bread, graham crackers, and marshmallows.

Now create another layer of bread, graham crackers, and marshmallows.

And pour the remainder of the liquid on top of this.

Put in the oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes.

When it's done, cut the bread pudding into square and serve. We were pretty impressed by our first bread pudding efforts. It was perfectly gooey and chocolatey, with a nice little unique touch of peanut butter. We had to restrain ourselves from eating the whole pan.

And guess what? Sara and I won the recipe contest!! Considering neither of us have won anything of note in our lives, we are pretty excited about this. Now, not only do we have an amazing bread pudding recipe, it's also award-winning. Can we write this on our resumes or something? Yes?
Here's what the fabulous people over at Peanut Butter and Co. sent us for our winning recipe:

Now we have enough peanut butter to last us another few weeks at least.
I think my next goal will be to create an entire meal using all 8 of Peanut Butter & Co's peanut butters. Sara, I think I'm gonna need you to help me out here.
[Sues]

Last week Sues and I received an email from Ocean Spray with a list of recipes and ideas for the holidays while remaining on a budget... great idea! As I skimmed the email, the recipe that stood out the most to me was the Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk cookies. I'm a huuuuuge fan of white chocolate mixed with any sort of fruity item so naturally I had to try these out... and it's the holidays, and I'm still not feeling it yet (WHY is this?), so I figured maybe making a holiday type cookie would get me in the holiday spirit. The recipe makes roughly 2 1/2 dozen cookies.


Here's what you'll need...

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened (i used unsalted butter)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Sweetened Dried Cranberries
• 2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips (I was planning on just buying bars of white chocolate and making my own chunks but thanks to Whole Foods, they have packaged pre-made white chocolate chunks!)



Now here's what you do:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy.


Add eggs, mixing well.


Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.





Stir in sweetened dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.



Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. I loved the way this dough looked, it's very festive!



Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.




My apartment smelled phenomenal after these were done baking. And yes, I have eaten these for breakfast several times this week... There's oatmeal in them so technically I can. I thoroughly enjoy making up my own rules.

These cookies are great, inexpensive, and only take about an hour to make. So if you're running short on gift ideas for the holidays, how about baking some cookies and packaging them nicely for coworkers or friends!

[Chels]

I am in no way, shape, or form a vegetarian (Hi, live without meat? No thanks). But I do love vegetables. And sometimes I get these strange, intense cravings for tofu. So I often buy tofu and then have no idea what to do with it besides make stir-fry. Boring. The last time I bought it, I checked in with the ever-trust worthy Martha Stewart who obviously had the perfect recipe for me. Tofu + one of my favorite foods in the world = Perfection! I'm talking about Sweet Potato Tofu Burgers. I altered her recipe a bit and loved what I ended up with.

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Tofu Burgers:

• 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 t curry powder
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 3 T corn starch (Martha calls for "potato" starch, but I couldn't find it and corn worked just fine)
• 1 lb firm tofu
• 1/2 C cooked brown rice
• 3 T cilantro
• Salt and pepper
• 4 whole wheat buns

*Before starting, make sure you cook your rice. You don't want to get to the rice step and realize you still need to cook it!

The recipe said to use a steamer basket for the sweet potatoes, but I simply put the cubes in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes or so (until they're soft and tender) and it worked just fine. The point is, you want them to be soft and mushy-ish

Cook the onion, garlic, cumin, and curry powder in a frying pan with some cooking spray for about 5-7 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Then stir in the tomato paste and continue cooking for a couple minutes.

Now you want to put the onion mixture in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, I highly recommend getting one (Christmas is coming! Santa?). I just have a little mini one, which saves on space and isn't too crazy expensive. However, if you don't have one and you do have a blender, just throw it all in there. Also add the sweet potato cubes and corn (or potato if you found it) starch. Pulse mixture until the onions are finely ground.

Now, drain your tofu and try to get rid of the excess water as much as you can. Put the tofu in a bowl, along with the sweet potato mixture, cooked brown rice, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Mix the ingredients together.

Then, using your hands, shape into hamburger-like patties, whatever size you like. Coat pan with cooking spray, turn to medium heat, and put patties in pan.
Cook until golden brown on each side. It took me about 7 minutes on each side.

Once they're all cooked, serve the burgers on a whole wheat bun if you want to be extra healthy. And toast the buns if you want a bit of an added crunch.

Put whatever you want on the burger. I enjoy some nice fresh tomato and lettuce.

I ended up really enjoying these and think they're an awesome option for tofu. While it's definitely not a real American hamburger, I liked it much more than a typical veggie burger and it's perfect for when you're in a healthy mood. Or when you're sitting in the midst of a winter storm dreaming about summer BBQs. Sigh.

[Sues]

With the holiday season in full swing (even though it still doesn't feel like it to me!), and lots of parties to attend, I feel like it's always a good idea to have a "go-to" dish to quickly whip up and bring to your festivities. In the midst of all the craziness the end of the year brings, I made this great, simple, and inexpensive spinach dip from Martha Stewart to bring to Sara's house last weekend for a small get together.

Here's what you'll need (the recipe makes roughly 3 cups and takes about an hour):

• 2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for baking dish
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds spinach, cleaned, trimmed, and coarsely chopped (I used 2 packages of 10 oz frozen spinach which worked really well... next time I'll try fresh!)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 ounces reduced-fat bar cream cheese
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 3 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Baguette slices, breadsticks, or crackers, for serving

Preheat your oven to 425. In a satuee pan add onion and garlic and cook until lightly brown about 5-8 minutes.


In a large pot warm milk over high heat, whisk in cream cheese until it is melted.

Add spinach, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and 1/4 cup mozzarella, season generously with salt and pepper.

Stir mixture until everything has melted nicely together.


Pour into a lightly oiled shallow baking dish and sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on top.


Bake until nice and golden brown (and bubbly!) for about 20-25 minutes.



Serve nice and hot with pretzel rods, bagel chips, or crackers.

This is the perfect hot appetizer for a cold night in.


[Chels]


*and a reminder: Martha Stewart will be the guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef next Wednesday! Don't forget to watch or set your DVRs!

I first saw the Better Homes and Gardens recipe on the tumblr of Sporkorfoon. I had just been trying to decide what kind of cookies to make and this made my choice way too easy. As you know by now, if it involves peanut butter, I will eat it. However, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what chocolate-covered-caramel-topped nougat bars with peanuts were. Um, brand name please? Luckily, another tumblr, Talix18, quickly filled me in. Snickers. DUH. What else would chocolate-covered-caramel-topped nougat bars with peanuts be??

Now, before I tell you the recipe, I just need to say THESE ARE THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES EVER. Even if you're not into the whole Snickers idea, make these without when you just want a good peanut butter cookie. I've been searching high and low for the perfect recipe and this is it.

Ingredients for the best peanut butter cookies in the world (my own name for them):

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 C butter (1 stick)
1/2 C creamy peanut butter (Jiff is best!)
1/4 C honey
1 T milk
24 mini chocolate-covered-caramel-topped nougat bars with peanuts (AKA Snickers)

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and peanut butter and mix until it resembles "coarse crumbs." We all have our favorite peanut butters (er, that's not just me, right?) and while I'm obviously obsessed with Peanut Butter & Co, when I just want a basic peanut butter, I will absolutely only use Jiff. I'm convinced that nothing will work as well or taste as good. Anyway, once your mixture is coarse, beat in the honey and milk until the it's well combined. I've never made a peanut butter cookie with honey involved, so I'm fairly certain this had something to do with its awesomeness.

Now comes the futile task of unwrapping all your mini Snickers. Boo. But trust me, it's worth it!

Make a little circle with about 1 T of the dough. Put the Snickers in the center and shape the dough around the candy to make a ball.


Put the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

How cool is it that when the cookies are baked, you can't even tell there's a Snickers in the middle?
Oh, but there is!


And there you have the most amazing peanut butter cookie ever. The Snickers is a fabulous addition, but the cookie would still be delightful without. Yes, I am getting way too excited about a simple peanut butter cookie, but I cannot help it. It's that good. And I can rest easy now knowing I have the perfect recipe. That I will probably be making every day for the rest of my life.
[Sues]

I was already in the mood for something pepperminty while I was leafing through Sara's latest issue of Cooking Light looking for some good holiday desserts. I suddenly came across a recipe for Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies and decided they were just the thing to make for a gathering at Sara's and to bring home for my family's post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving (this time with my sister and her fiance).

I was super happy with how these brownies turned out and while they're far from being healthy, a few Cooking Light recipe tweaks make them slightly not as bad for you. Happy holidays to that!

Ingredients for the cheesecake topping:

• 1 8 oz. block of 1/3- less-fat cream cheese
• 1/3 C granulated sugar
• 1 t peppermint extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 T all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the brownie bottom:

• 1 C all-purpose flour (4.5 ounces if you weigh it, which apparently you should be doing. Which I definitely don't do)
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C canola oil
• 1/4 C buttermilk
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 large egg

Start by making the cheesecake batter. Put the cream cheese in a medium bowl and beat it (at medium speed if you have a hand mixer). Add the granulated sugar and peppermint extract and beat together. You'll notice the official recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract. But I read the reviews and pretty much everyone said this wasn't nearly enough. So I used a full teaspoon and thought the brownies had the perfect amount of peppermint flavor to them. And since they are peppermint brownies, that's kind of important. Now add the whole egg and the 1 egg white and beat well before adding the flour and beating that until it's just blended.

I separated my cream cheese topping into 2 bowls. One i kept white.


And the other, I added a bunch of red food coloring to.


I set these aside and started making the brownie portion of the dessert. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, and salt.

Then, in a larger bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, whole egg, and 2 egg whites, and beat until just blended.

Remove 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set it aside. Pour the rest into a 9x9 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray (I used 8x8).

After I had the brownie batter in my pan, I poured my white cream cheese mixture on top. Then I poured the red on that and swirled it around with a knife. Then I dribbled the reserved brownie batter on top of that and swirled that around too. I think that next time I make these, I'll keep more of the cream cheese topping white, as the red and brown kind of took over.

Put in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 26 minutes.

When they're done, let cool for a bit and cut into them.



Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies are seriously the perfect holiday treat. The original Cooking Light recipe doesn't use red food coloring, but I think it makes these ten times prettier and festive, right? Also, people are quite impressed by the swirly topping, though it's incredibly easy to do. You'll have no idea these brownies are lower fat when you bite into them. They're incredibly moist and flavorful, basically melting in your mouth.
So, let the holiday baking and eating continue. And maybe we can work on some of the exercises included in Cooking Light after the holidays.
[Sues]

I have a massive crush on graphic tshirts, I honestly wouldn't even want to count how many I actually own. I love clothes for many reasons, but mostly because people can express themselves through the way they dress. I think that's why I love a good graphic tee. It's a quick and easy way to express yourself. Or maybe another reason is because I'm a graphic designer and I appreciate when people convey messages, feelings, emotions via tees.. it's a good way to get a quick look at someones personality. Whatever the reason... I'm addicted.

So today friend Kara told me that the Bazaar Bizarre was coming to Boston this weekend (12.07.08, 12-7pm @ The Castle at Park Plaza). She described it as "Etsy comes to life!" Which is another way of saying... Heaven on Earth. As I browsed the website for vendors that would be in attendance I stumbled across Campfire Goods, Inc. I immediately went to their website and found some of the greatest graphic tees I've seen in a while. The categories on the site are: "Find your State" (all 50 states!), "Typography and Design" (yes, please!), "Grammar", "Humor", "Sports", and "Landmarks".

Some of my favorites:


(Massachusetts)

east coast represent! ...

(they also have a midwestern one for all of our Chicago readers... there are lots of you!)

(design & typography)

(design & typography)

I love this one... so many different names for, what I call, soda...
What do you call it?


So for all of you who don't know what to buy for the holidays for your Secret Santa at work, or a friend, or really anyone, I'm almost positive you'll be able to find a personal and great graphic tshirt from Campfire Goods, especially since the shirts are only $20!


And since we're on the topic of graphic tshirts... please check out the one I bought yesterday from Diesel Sweeties Store:

(image: http://store.dieselsweeties.com)

My obsession with bacon continues! I can't wait for it to get here... oink!

[Chels]

Pancakes have been one of the central points of conversation between me and Sara lately. We always seem to have at least one food obsession going on and pancakes are currently taking the cake (literally. Well, cupcakes are still up there too). The pumpkin pancakes were a huge autumn hit, but we were in the mood for something a bit more holiday-ish. Gingerbread pancakes sounded absolutely perfect.

After looking through some recipes, it appeared that most people seem to prefer gingerbread pancakes from a place called Magnolia Cafe in Austin Texas. Dweezil and Lisa (yes, as in Lisa Loeb) recreated the gingerbread pancake recipe on their show that was once upon aired on the Food Network and we decided to give it a try.

What You'll Need for Gingerbread Pancakes:

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1/2 C water
• 1/4 C brewed coffee
• 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t ground cloves
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 1 T ground ginger
• 1 T ground nutmeg
• 4 T butter, melted

First, we mixed the eggs in sugar in a bowl. We added the buttermilk, water, and brewed coffee and stirred to combine. In a separate larger bowl, we whisked flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all the spices together.

We pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, stirred to combine, and poured in the melted butter.

We sprayed a pan with some Pam and spooned some of the mixture onto it on medium-high heat. When the pancakes began to bubble on top, we flipped them over. Our pancakes were super duper thick. If you like that, awesome, otherwise I suggest adding a bit more water and/or buttermilk to your mixture.

Make as many pancakes as the batter allows. We had about 12 amazingly thick, cake-like pancakes.

I quickly "whipped up" some whipped cream with some heavy whipping cream, a bit of sugar, and a splash of vanilla. Strangely, whipped cream is the one "food" I really can't stand. But if I'm going to eat it, it absolutely has to be homemade. Oh, and you absolutely need real maple syrup for these pancakes. None of the fake stuff.
Sara picked up some fruit salad from Stew Leonard's (psst Martha is going to be at the Norwalk, CT, store on Dec. 6!!) and we had the perfect breakfast for dinner. We loved the way the spices combined to create the ideal gingerbread flavor and wonder what would have happened if we added a bit more coffee. We'd also like to try these with some whole wheat flour next time.




And after our pancakes dinner, we may or may not have eaten a whole bunch of Crumb's cupcakes that Sara picked up on her way home from CT. I'm not telling. Welcome to the holiday eating season.
[Sues]

Part of the reason we are such good friends is because, not only do we know each other extremely well, but we share many of the same interests. So, being how this has been a pretty big year for us in terms of food, blogging, and lifestyle related things, Chels decided to get Sues the perfect birthday present: a cooking class at Stir. We had never heard of Stir before, but upon investigating, Chels thought it sounded awesome and knew Sues would love it and together we could spread the word.

This intimate demo kitchen and cookbook library located in the South End is owned by Barbara Lynch of The No. 9 Group fame, so you already know it's gonna be good. We took the class on Pasta on Friday night. Before attending the class, we scoffed a bit when anyone suggested making their own pasta. It's so easy and cheap to purchase; is homemade pasta really any better? Um, yes. Now we see how and why homemade pasta is way better and will never again look at boxed pasta the same.

Chef Ben Elliot was an extremely informative, entertaining cook (great sense of humor!) and made us see how simple everything was to make. He encouraged the class of 9 to ask any and all questions and was constantly making sure we were satisfied with our dishes. His assistant, Molly, was beyond friendly and professional, plus she made the most amazing passion fruit mousse for dessert. A little extra that wasn't even on the official menu! By the end of the night, a few of us in the class decided we could see Ben and Molly as contestants on Bravo's Top Chef! :)
The wine was perfectly paired with each dish and flowed freely all night. I don't think either of us could have asked for anything more (except maybe a doggy bag) and have a feeling we'll be back at Stir for more as soon as we can. To make it even better they gave us recipe cards with all of the courses that were made throughout the night, so now we can go home and practice ourselves.

(PASTA! The menu written on the cabinets... loved this)

(hello, this is how they started us off. Mix of meats and cheeses and our favorite, homemade ricotta cheese with pomegranate seeds... brilliant)

(Our lovely chefs for the evening, Ben and Molly. They made a great team!)

(1. Lemon Linguine with Spicy Clams: Woodbury littenecks, extra virgin olive oil, parsley salad)

(2. Ravioli Con Uovo with fine herbs)

(Ravioli Con Uovo with fine herbs, egg yolk in center, probably one of our favorites!)

(3. Wild Mushroom Lasagnettes: black truffle bechamel... yes they fed us truffles... words can't explain how this whole dish blew our minds. If we recall correctly, the only sound out of people was "mmmmmmm".)

(4. Gnocchi Bolognese with parmaggiano-reggiano)

(Molly's passion fruit mousse... the perfect way to end the evening)


If you're in Boston or planning on visiting and love cooking (or just eating!), signing up for a class at Stir is a MUST. We can honestly see these classes becoming extremely addicting. We want to go to all of them. Check out their website and soon-to-be-announced winter class schedule (classes fill up fast so don't hesitate!) With the holidays approaching we're thinking this would make the perfect gift for the food lover on your list.

In the meantime, Sues and Chels will be purchasing pasta machines and reproducing all we learned at Stir... and obviously sharing it with all of you!

Stir Boston
102 Waltham Street
Boston, MA 02118
617.423.STIR
info@stirboston.com
www.stirboston.com


[Sues and Chels]

The winner of the Tres Ladies t-shirt is...Heather of Simply Me...Today. We chose Heather by using Randomizer.org and pulling the number she was assigned. But in looking at her blog, it appears she is very into running, so I'm sure she'll really enjoy the shirt!

But, everyone is a winner in this contest because Tres Ladies gave us an exclusive coupon code, so you can save 20% on all the t-shirts on their site. The coupon is good until December 6, so make sure you utilize it before then. The code is: NotMartha.

If you're wondering about sizing, the shirts to run a bit small. I generally wear a size small or extra small in shirts, but got a medium of the cupcake shirt and it fits perfectly.

Congratulations, Heather! Thank you to everyone who entered. We are excited we got to introduce you all to the Tres Ladies and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Happy running...and cupcake eating (well, probably pie eating tomorrow)!! Stay tuned because we'll be having many more giveaways in the future.

[Sues]

Now that you've seen how pretty the decorations and turkey were, you're probably wondering about the rest of the food. Well, it was fabulous of course! We started with a little appetizer of little quiche that Libby made. They were so, so good. Bacon and caramelized onion? Yes, please.

And then it was time for the big meal:
Chels' decadent turkey detailed in the last post.

Sues's stuffing. Which is based on a Ina Garten recipe and then tweaked a bit so it was basically Sues's mom's stuffing (added carrots, mushrooms, Bells seasoning, and 2 eggs. Didn't use cranberries).

Katie made her famous mashed potatoes.

Sara made amazing whipped chipotle sweet potatoes. They were deliciously sweet, but had an awesome kick from the peppers!

Such a pretty table:


Nina and Libby filling up their plates.

Chels' shallot-garlic green beans:

Erin's Cranberry Crunch, which was unlike any cranberry sauce we had ever had. But so good that it might become a staple in all of our households from now on:

Katie's sweet glazed carrots:

Sues's fully loaded plate:

Chels and Sues enjoying the meal:

After all that food, we needed a palate cleanser. Katie made a cranberry sorbet, which was seriously AMAZING. It tasted exactly like fresh cranberries and was so nice and refreshing. And look how pretty it is:
And then of course it was pie time! Missy made an oreo pie, Sara made a rum raisin apple pie and a pumpkin pie and Sues made a cranberry apple pie with oatmeal cookie crust:

Sara's rum raisin apple pie was a really good change from the typical apple. If you make it yourself, keep in mind Sara used 1/3 cup of rum (because more rum equals better) and 1/2 cup of golden raisins:

Sues's Cranberry Apple Pie from Recipe Girl:

In addition to the pies, Sues made turkey cake pops based on the amazing Bakerella's. Yes, Bakerella's are a million times better, but Sues is still getting the technique down:
The poor turkeys got a but decapitated on the way over. This is not a good transportable dessert!

But Katie still enjoyed her turkey cake pop, with one leg missing and one feather remaining. Aww:


Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers! If you want any of the recipes not linked to this post, don't hesitate to send us an e-mail and let us know.
[Sues and Chels]
And stay tuned tomorrow when we announce the winner of the Tres Ladies t-shirt contest!!

This past weekend we had a group of the girls together to throw a Thanksgiving dinner. My roommate, Kate, and myself decided to host, mostly because I, for whatever reason, decided to offer to do the turkey and it would have been difficult to lug that big thing to someone else's apartment! As the time got closer I decided to just do a turkey breast instead of a full turkey since we were all having the "real thing" the following week with our families.

The Decorations:

As we were planning the party I decided it would be fun to make some tent cards and label them with all of the food everyone brought. I started out by rummaging through my paper drawer to see if I had any festive fall colors (yes, I have drawers filled with paper... mostly from the Paper-Source). I found some Poppy paper from Paper-Source and simply folded the 8.5x11 sheet of cover stock in half twice, cut, then folded again to create a basic tent card. A while ago I also purchased a leaf hole punch from Paper-Source and punched the shapes out using gold and curry colored paper. I felt there was a little something missing so I started searching for some twine. I found some kitchen twine in the cabinet and decided to place it over the fold of the card (tied a knot on the inside part of the card).


I have a little "thing" for plates and have been on the search for some new, fun ones anyway, so this was the perfect time to go searching. I found these great little red and white floral dishes at Pier 1 (they were on sale and there were only 8 left which is what I needed... must have been a sign!)... I used these for desserts.


Also found at Pier 1 were these fantastic yellow/gold dinner plates. I think I'm in love with the paisley napkins I found at Crate and Barrel (4 in a set), they too were on sale.



The table (through the pitched or spiced cider courtesy of our newly married friend Libby!)

[Appetizer table decorated with berry branches from the Christmas Tree Shop]


The Turkey
After doing some searching for a good recipe, I finally found one for Bacon and Herb Roasted Turkey Breast from Martha Stewart and Emril. It's pretty basic but helpful that there's a video on the website too (and I love Martha's yellow argyle sweater, hehe!)

[chopped herbs]

[mix bacon, herbs, butter, garlic, salt and pepper until a paste is formed]

[gently loosen the skin on both sides of the turkey breast. Divide the mixture in half and spread the herb paste into each pocket formed.]

[Season with salt and pepper and brush the skin with reserved bacon fat.]



[Carving the turkey!]


[close up]

The recipe says to cook for an hour and 15 minutes or until your thermometer reads 165 degrees. I ended up cooking it a little bit longer but checked on it frequently to make sure it wouldn't be too dry.

Not going to lie, but making a turkey makes you feel like a real adult, maybe next year I'll try doing the whole bird! ;)

[Chels]

... stay tuned for the entire feast!

A couple weeks ago, Sara sent me a link to an Etsy store that carries what we immediately deemed the best t-shirts in the world. Including the most perfect tee ever. Why? Well, I think you already know how I feel about cupcakes. If you're reading this blog, chances are, you think fondly upon them yourselves. But unfortunately, eating all those cupcakes doesn't go unnoticed on my waistline. So, I tend to spend quite a bit of time at the gym running on the treadmill. Sara and I joke that the only reason we really work out is so we can eat cupcakes and other delicacies.

The t-shirt we fell in love with?

Could it get any more perfect than that?

Actually, Tres Ladies, a company run by three sisters in California, make several perfect t-shirts for girls who are into staying in shape, eating cupcakes, drinking wine...you know, the important things in life.

Tres Ladies have an Etsy shop, but they also have a website that includes more of their designs. And, as if the cute sayings aren't enough, the t-shirts are incredibly comfortable- Extremely soft and super long; just the way I like them.

I got the chance to ask the ladies a few questions about their business and well, um cupcakes too. They were happy to answer AND want to give one of We are not Martha's readers a t-shirt of your choice! All you have to do is visit the Tres Ladies website and leave us a comment telling us what shirt you would choose and why.

Q: What made you girls start Tres Ladies? Have you always wanted to start a company?

A: After 5 years of racing marathons, we grew tired of the "manly" running tees that races hand out. Ideas were brewing for a while but when the third sister finished college this year, our entrepreneurial spirit wishes became a priority. We're also very eco-minded and Tres Ladies is a way of combining our passion for fitness, health, and fashion. We knew we wanted to work together on something big!

Q: As sisters, is it ever hard working with each other?

A: As sisters, it's 100% easier working together. We're a very close family and often get help from mom, dad, boyfriends, husbands, and grandma. We are incredibly different and we know each other's strengths and weaknesses so it makes it easier to delegate accordingly and ask for help when things get overwhelming. Sometimes we have so much fun we forget that we're working, and in that sense it is a bit harder running this company as a family.

Q: Do you have more t-shirt designs in the works? Any you want to give us hints about?

A: We have several t-shirt designs in the works. Being runners from California, we wanted to focus more on what makes us unique in the business. We are dedicated to fashion, fitness, and fun and we're streamlining our product line to reflect the celebratory food groups (what motivates us to get out there on cold winter months). Hint hint: cupcakes, lattes, chocolate, and wine are what motivate us to run. After the fall marathon season comes to a close, we will be able to focus on offering our "nutrition" and eco-friendly designs.

Q: What is your favorite cupcake shop?

A: We have offices on both coasts, so our favorite cupcakes in the Bay Area come from Icing on the Cake in Los Gatos, and our favorite cupcake shop in Washington D.C. is Hello Cupcake (their Gluten-free pumpkin spice is to die for!).

**How you can win a Tres Ladies T-Shirt of your choice!

• Go to the Tres Ladies website and take a look at their fabulous t-shirt designs
• Leave a comment for us on this post letting us know what t-shirt is your favorite and why
• Want an extra entry or two? We'll give you 2 extra entries if you write a blog post about this giveaway and 1 extra entry if you link to the giveaway in Twitter (Make sure you let us know if you do this and send us the link!)
• Enter by Sunday, November 23 at 11:59 p.m.
• We'll choose a winner using the Random.org generator and will notify you via e-mail.

Worried you might not win? Well don't worry because even if you don't, Tres Ladies are going to give all entrants a coupon code for their website, so really, everyone is a winner. With the holidays coming up, I'm sure you all know quite a few ladies who would love one of these tees! And I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, the cupcake tee will motivate me to do a few more miles. How many miles equal a cupcake anyway?

[Sues]

This past weekend my friend Nicole had a few of the girls from our high school crew over her house for a girls night. We hadn't had one in a while, just a night to hang out, watch a movie and obviously eat. I decided to make some cookies and I stumbled across a recipe on Martha's website for Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies. Uhh, yes please... and thank you!


You will need:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
• 6 ounces (1 cup) fresh raspberries
• 7 1/2 ounces best-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Start off by whisking together the flour, baking soda and salt (set aside).


Mix the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar (if you're using an electric mixer turn to a medium-high speed) until the mixture is fluffy, roughly 2-3 minutes.


Add egg, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds; mix until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Slowly mix in the flour mixture.




Scoop the batter into 1-inch balls. The recipe recommends using a 1-inch ice cream scoop (after I decided to eye ball it and the cookies came out all different sizes, I took recommend using a small ice cream scoop!) Place cookies space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 4 minutes. Remove baking sheets from over and switch the position of them in the oven. Bake for another 4-6 minutes.


Meanwhile, puree raspberries and 2 teaspoons of sugar in a food processor.


Pour the puree through a sieve into a small bowl allowing juices through. Set aside.


Now place the white chocolate (yum!) in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir chocolate until melted.


Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream.


Now whisk in the raspberry puree. The recipe now says to let cream filling mixture sit for about 30 minutes. The next time I make these I will probably let them chill in the fridge for a little bit longer, probably an hour... I feel like the mixture could have been a little thicker.

Pour a generous amount of the filling on one side of the cookie (face down) and sandwich them together.


These are so so good. Nice and sweet, pretty light and not overwhelming at all, they taste like candy! Not to mention they were a hit with the girls!



Also, with the leftover cream filling I dipped some fresh raspberries into it for a nice white chocolate covered raspberry!

[Chels]

When I saw Nora Leah post the recipe for this on The Great American Cooking Project, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I made it. And it was amazing. In fact, I made a few batches of it (AKA lots!) and froze some of it, so I would be able to enjoy it throughout the Autumn. I just pulled another batch out of the freezer the other day and realized I needed to post the recipe here so everyone else can enjoy it! I've always been a fan of Trader Joe's lentil soup, but this homemade version is so much better. And the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg will make you feel totally cozy and fall-ish

Nora Leah calls her soup October Surprise, but you can call it whatever you want. I prefer to call it the Best Lentil Soup Ever.

Here's what you'll need for The Best Lentil Soup Ever (but you can alter anything to your taste!):

1 1/2 C lentils, washed and picked over
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 lb small white potatoes, washed and cut into cubes
2 bay leaves
2 big pinches dried thyme
1 big pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cinnamon
8 to 10 C chicken broth (you can use veggie too)
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T minced garlic (use however much you like. I LOVE garlic)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Chop up all your veggies first. And use absolutely whatever you want to use when it comes to veggies. It's your soup and there are tons of different additions that could be fabulous here, so you don't have to follow the recipe exactly (though I admit, I did kind of follow Nora's very closely, because it was so amazing sounding and tempting).

Put the lentils, carrots, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a pot with 8 cups of your stock. Bring it to a boil and then turn the heat to low and keep it there, stirring it occasionally.

Put the olive oil in a skillet and toss in your onions and garlic, cooking on medium low for about 5 minutes. The onion should be soft.

After your stock/lentil/veggie mixture has been cooking for about 30 minutes, take the bay leaves out and put the onions and garlic in. Taste it and add more seasonings if you want. I added a bit more nutmeg into the mix because I really wanted my soup to taste like fall.

Like Nora, I like my lentil soup thick, so I didn't add any more stock to it. If you want yours to have a more soupy consistency, you can add more stock in. Serve with salt and pepper to taste.



This soup was the perfect consistency and way better than any lentil soup I've had before (and that's saying a lot, considering I love Au Bon Pain's!). It's also really filling. Trust me, I'm not one to make a meal of soup, but this completely satisfied me. Especially with a side of really nice bread and butter. I'm a big fan of When Pigs Fly low carb whole wheat (I swear, it does not taste low carb at all. Seriously). I will definitely be making this every Fall and stocking my freezer full of it. And you should too. Thanks Nora Leah!
[Sues]