Moving Trip, Part 2: DC Highlight

Aside from seeing Abe and the Supreme Court, both Alex and I were absolutely stunned by the Botanical Garden. If you are in DC and want somewhere to go, you should definitely go here. It's free and it's a beautiful oasis of natural life in the middle of the city. I could have easily spent the day in there photographing everything. There were plants from all over the world and it's amazing to see how it can all flourish and survive under one roof.

Moving Trip, Part 1

Holy cow. I was just looking through all my uploaded pictures and I realized that I never told you about our moving trip. It's been almost 4 months and I haven't even talked about with you. I'm so sorry! We drove down from Boston and made quick stops in both DC and Savannah. When I say quick, I mean quick. We spent about a day in each city, which in my opinion isn't enough, but we had a deadline and had to be in Miami sooner rather than later. As it is, I had to push for taking stops. Alex wanted to drive straight down and not stop at all.

Our first stop was DC. Alex went to DC as a child and I had never been. I was completely in awe of the city. There was so much to do and so much of it was free! We spent a day walking around and looking at the monuments and we both vowed to return when we could spare a few more days. I can't get over how much our our nation's past, present, and future is so alive in the city. The monuments are breathtaking. Alex's favorite monument is Abraham Lincoln's. Abe is his favorite president and he loves everything and anything having to do with him. I'm a little biased and my favorite thing in DC was the Supreme Court. The courtroom is gorgeous and I can only begin to imagine how it must feel to sit in that room while the justices are there.

White House.

DC Monuments.

WWII Memorial.

Good Ol' Abe.

FDR Memorial.

Old Post Office.

Capitol Building.

Supreme Court.

Supreme Court courtroom.

Library of Congress.

Supreme Court fountain.

Declaration of Independence.

Our second stop was Savannah. I was instantly enamored by this city. The architecture is stunning and the people are extremely nice. The city has such a vibrant and cozy feel to it. And again, the history living in the city is so amazing. One of our stops in Savannah was Paula Deen's Lady & Son's (I'll review this in a later post). Let's just say the restaurant is very good but the food is super heavy.I'm so glad Savannah was our second stop because after the day we had in DC we needed to rest. Savannah was perfect for taking a relaxing stroll and enjoying the beauty of the architecture and the many manicured parks.

Ruth's Chris Dessert Rave

I've been to Ruth's Chris once in my life. I remember everything about the meal, from where we sat to who our waiter was to what we ate. My best memory from that night was the apple dessert we ordered. I was amazed at the size and deliciousness of the dessert. It was by far the best apple dessert I had ever had. Alex recently went to a rep sponsored dinner there and my one request was for him to bring me home some dessert. He did and my jaw literally dropped when I saw the size of the dessert. He brought me cheesecake. I was expecting a slice of cheesecake not a whole mini cake. I was not prepared. The cheesecake was divine; it was sweet and creamy and there was the ratio of cheesecake filling to graham cracker crust. After this, it became dessert law that Ruth's Chris is the place to go for huge desserts that are of the best quality.

A little perspective: The cake compared to Dorie's Book. Can you believe
this is a single serving? As in, made for one person.

No Fuss Focaccia

I wanted to try my hand at bread making. However, I wanted to take it easy and not make a bread that would require me taking out my poor packed up Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I had come across this recipe for No Fuss Focaccia and liked how quick and easy it was to put together. I made the bread and while it was good, it was no focaccia. Or at least it wasn't the focaccia I'm used to. The bread was dense and lacked the air-like quality of focaccia bread. Also a part of the dense feeling of the bread is that it didn't feel like it had enough oil. As a result, the bread tasted a little dry. Don't get me wrong, the bread was still good, it just didn't meet my expectation of focaccia bread.



No-Fuss Focaccia
Source: King Arthur Flour (here)

1 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbsp olive oil (plus more for drizzling)
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp instant yeast
Spices for topping

Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom. Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds. Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F. Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired. Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

TWD: Chocolate Souffle

Chocolate Souffle...doesn't that make you think of the perfect ending to a really nice and fancy dinner? I had always been intrigued by this dessert. The name is so elegant. I always thought souffle was a hard to make dessert that required baking skills far beyond the ones I possessed. Dorie dispelled this misconception and Susan of She’s Becoming DoughMessTic was brave enough to pick this dessert for us TWDers to make this week. Great choice Susan! The souffle was so easy to put together and the final product was so delicious. The souffle was light and chocolaty and just plain heavenly. I can officially cross souffle off my "scared to tackle" dessert list :)

Make sure to check Susan's blog for the recipe and the TWD site to see how everyone else did this week.

Ham & Cheddar Puffs

Here's another quick and easy appetizer that's full of taste and big on presentation. The original recipe called for prosciutto and gruyere but I went the poor girl route and used ham and chedder cheese.
Ham & Cheese Pinwheels
Source: Joy the Baker (here)

1 package puff pastry
8 slices of ham
3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
flour for dusting
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Thaw puff pastry in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Once thawed, carefully unfold and lay on a floured work surface. If the pastry tears at the seam in the unfolding process. Dust flour on top of the pastry as well.

Puff pastry will already be very flat, but with a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 11×9-inches. Layer the eight slices of hamon top of the puff pastry. Using a butter knife, layer the mustard on top of the ham slices. Top with cheese, and as much fresh ground black pepper as you like.

Begin to roll the right side of the pastry in towards the center. Next roll the left side of the pastry in towards the center. Press together. Dough will not stick together, but if you brush away some of the excess flour on the center dough pieces, they will stay together better during baking.

With a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on a baking sheet lines with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, until a deep golden brown. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from baking sheet and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serve and enjoy!

Pancake Delight

I woke up in the mood for pancakes. I've made quite a few recipes from scratch and none of them have turned out well. They are either rubbery or too raw despite looking burned on the outside or flat on flavor. I took a chance on this recipe and it was the best decision I could have made. The recipe was composed of pantry staples and the end product was fantastic. These pancakes were not rubbery, raw, or flat. They were perfect. Dare I even say they tasted like they came out of a diner instead of my kitchen? These babies are dense cakes of 100% breakfast goodness.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes
Source: Allrecipes (here)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar (I added 2 Tbsp)

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

TWD: Cheesecake Brownies

Brownies are such a great dessert and they are so compatible with other desserts. First, there was the Chipster-Topped Brownies and now there are the Cheesecake Brownies. I love the way these types of desserts look and taste. You get a two-for-one deal with these desserts. I didn't have any problems with this dessert and thought it was a lot of fun to put together. My brownies did harden up a bit but I blame that more on the chilling time than the brownie recipe itself. The brownies were still chewy and it was such a palette pleaser with the smoothness of the cheesecake and the sour cream frosting. Alex loved these and was singing my praises after the first bite.
Thanks to Melissa of Life In a Peanut Shell for a great selection. Make sure to check our her blog for the recipe and don't forget t stop by the TWD site to see what everyone else thought about this sweet treat.