Housewarming

Today we invited some friends, family and neighbors (old and new) over to our new house to break in the tiki bar and warm our home.

I ended up running around all day, and failed to take more than this single picture of the food table early in the day - which doesn't begin to do justice to all the food people brought.

In addition to the chocolate peanut butter brownies, Mai Tai cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and white chocolate coconut cookies I made, and the other snacks we put out, Dan's Mom brought sandwiches, his sisters brought chips and dip, a fruit platter, and a pie, my Mom brought chips and her homemade pico de gallo salsa, Serenity brought a rum cake, Mark & Kurt brought a chocolate pecan pie, Marshall brought chips and Spanish dip, Martha brought brownies and biscuits (plus the biggest bag of peanuts ever, which was a huge hit in the bar), Alice & Geno brought chips and snacks galore (and amazing pineapple serving bowls), and Jim & his wife brought her famous lemon meringue pie - and I'm surely forgetting something (like the gorgeous veggie tray Anna made for us and sent with Jason, since she was at home with Otis and his fever).

Dan & I made up big batches of our Mai Passion cocktails (Mai Tais with passion fruit juice), and there was more wine than anyone could possibly drink.

It was a wonderful day. I only wish I'd taken more pictures!

I was also excited that thanks to some careful choices when shopping for supplies, bins with labels listing what went where, and conscientiousness by our guests, the party was nearly a zero-waste event! We were able to recycle, reuse, or compost nearly everything - and produced only a tiny bag of garbage - about the size of a plastic grocery bag!

We Can Always Have Popcorn...

Tonight we made a comforting tuna noodle casserole - perfect to combat the dreary weather we've had. In it were some fresh peas from the market, that Dan shucked when he got home today, tuna and milk from the market, plus a can of cream of celery soup, cheese, and chips from the grocery store.



We used our usual recipe, but switched to a new type of noodle, based on both Carolyn & Lisa saying it makes the best tuna noodle casserole. Two Demibiczak women can't be wrong! Found in the kosher/Jewish foods section, Mrs. Weiss' Kluski Enriched Egg Noodles lived up to their reputation. They also bulk up a lot - an 8 oz bag is plenty for a big casserole, though I went for 12 oz and nearly overflowed the dish.



Dan skipped lunch today, so despite the hearty dinner, he was still hungry. When we're not sure what to eat, or we think dinner might not be filling enough, our joke has become 'We can always have popcorn', though we rarely actually do.



Tonight, my ravenous husband needed his popcorn, so I made up a big batch with butter and (a bit too much) salt. I just pray the kernels don't get stuck in my teeth and embarrass me at the dentist tomorrow morning.

Tres Leches Cupcakes & Tostones

Ruth's brother Phillip is in town this weekend, and in honor of the occasion we once again hit the lake in an Electric Boat for food, friends, and cocktails (except for the Captain, that is).



For this round of what has become known as 'Boat Drinks', Ruth picked a dual theme: Cuba and Covers. We each submitted our favorite cover songs to Ruth, who put together a mix CD of them for us to enjoy while boating around Lake Union. And for the Cuban theme, Ruth brought fixings for Cuba Libre cocktails (rum, Mexican Coke, and lime juice) and a huge stack of Cuban Sandwiches.



Since I can't resist a theme, I did my best to dress 'Cuban' (though my most Cuban shirt had a stain) and made a couple things to eat inspired by Cuban cuisine. First were some Tostones - deep fried plantains. They were incredibly simple to make. Just get some green plantains, peel them and cut them into about 1/2 inch slices (I like to cut them on an angle to get them bigger around). Then deep fry them in 350 degree oil for about 3 1/2 minutes - just to get them cooked through. Take them out of the oil and let them drain briefly, then smack them flat with something heavy (I used a meat pounder). Then, back into the 350 degree oil for a few more minutes, until they're crispy and golden brown. Pull them out, and season. I mixed some sea salt and ground cumin.



The other treat I made were cupcakes - which is now officially a traditional part of our boat trips. I made Margarita cupcakes the first time, then Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes last September for our second excursion. This time, I found a great recipe for Tres Leches Cupcakes on The Cupcake Project, though I swapped out the meringue frosting for a simple butter & powdered sugar frosting, augmented with some Dulce De Leche I made using leftover sweetened condensed milk. I made them in some star-shaped aluminum cupcake tins I bought years ago, which made them appropriately festive. They cupcakes were super moist, yet still held together, and got rave reviews - with Laura going so far as to say it was possibly the greatest thing she's ever eaten. They'll definitely be making another appearance.

After almost 4 hours of boating around (with me at the helm), our designated drivers ferried everyone over to our place to enjoy the fire pit and backyard - which lasted until nearly midnight.

Tres Leches Cupcakes
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tspn vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 Tbspn flour
4 1/2 tspn cornstarch
1/2 tspn baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 Tbspn + 2 tspn sugar
3 oz evaporated milk
5 1/2 oz condensed milk
3/8 cup heavy cream
1 stick of butter, at room temperature
About 2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 12 liners in a cupcake pan. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks and 1/2 C of the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt together and stir well. Mix flour mixture into the yolk mixture, just until combined. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add remaining sugar at the end, being careful not to overbeat the egg whites. Gently fold the whites into the yolk and flour mixture, being very careful not to deflate the batter, until mixture is uniformly colored. Fill cupcake liners with batter about half way. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes.

Mix the three milks together in a small bowl. With a serrated knife, remove the top golden layer of each cupcake to expose the sponge. Spoon about a teaspoon at a time of the milk mixture onto the top of each cupcake, allowing it to soak in before adding more. Continue until you've added about 3 teaspoons to each cupcake. Refrigerate the cupcakes, covered, for 5 hours or overnight.

Dulce De Leche Frosting
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour the remaining sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate and cover with foil. Place in a larger roasting pan where pie plate can sit flat. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir until smooth. In a mixer, beat the butter until whipped, then begin adding powdered sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture is thick - scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically. Add the cooled sweetened condensed milk (now dulce de leche) and continue beating. Add additional powdered sugar to get frosting to a spreadable or pipe-able consistency. Add a little milk if it gets too thick.

Island Princess Mac Nut Snacks

When Dan, Ruth, Paul & I went out for dinner a few weeks back, they brought us a little gift bag filled with a variety of macadamia nut snacks from Island Princess. I had never heard of the brand, but was awed by the variety of items, all with mac nuts.

I've been munching on them off and on, and am completely in love with the Wasabi Macadamia Nuts and the Sweet Heat Macadamia Nuts, which are covered in a 5-spice cookie crust, then in chocolate, then in a crispy shell dusted with spices. They're sweet, spicy, salty, and hard to stop eating.

Beer, Cracker Jacks, & Garlic Fries

This is my last week at my current job (moving to a new team on Monday), and my great boss took the whole team out to a Mariner's baseball game this afternoon - and bought us beer and food. I initially tried to be both thrifty and reserved, and got a Miller Lite and some Cracker Jacks (the prizes are sad these days).



But during a second beer run, our boss returned with a stack of garlic fries baskets for everyone, and one of the baskets ended up in my lap. I must've smelled horrible by the end of the night. Oddly enough, they serve the fries with a couple slices of apple on the side. I'm not sure if it's a nod to the local producers, or if eating apple slices after several cloves worth of garlic is supposed to diminish the garlic breath. Something to look more into, I guess.



Although the Mariners lost it in the end to the Red Sox, we all had a blast at the game. I was super rowdy (surprise, surprise), and my friends Yarrow and Jen bought me a giant pink foam #1 finger to wave - which landed me on the JumboTron TV!

Hot Redheaded Slut Spread

Every other Thursday, my coworkers and I step away from our computers at 5pm, pull out wine, beer and snacks, and take over the office kitchen for some socializing. Today was my last Thursday Social while on the team (though I've been invited to keep coming, and certainly will).

Months ago, Yarrow brought a snack treat made using a recipe her Grandmother shared with her. A block of cream cheese, drenched in soy sauce, with some green onion on top, served with wheat thins. It's really delicious, but the best thing about it is Yarrow's Grandma's name for it: Working Girl's Spread.

Since that first introduction, many have created variations on it for our Thursday Socials, and we've jumped at the opportunity to create new names for each one. Ally brought it one week, but replaced the soy sauce with balsamic (Italian Whore Snack). Anne created a version with jalepeno relish (Mexican Ho Dip), and today, Anne topped the cream cheese with a spicy red pepper mixture, which acquired the name 'Hot Redheaded Slut Spread'.

Thursday Social Shower

Today was the last 'Thursday Social' before Dan & I head to Hawai'i for our wedding, so I invited him to come to my work to meet my coworkers, which turned it into a bit of a wedding shower. Ally came with two bottles of really delicious champagne, which she featured at her wedding not that long ago.



Anne brought a variation on the 'working girl's snack' Yarrow has made famous in our team, swapping out the soy sauce for some jalapeno relish on the cream cheese. And she brought a couple little hula dancer spreaders as an homage to our wedding.



Jae brought some delicious cheese and grapes to add to the feast.



And David raced down to Uwajimaya to pick up some sashimi to share.

We all had a great time - and the turnout was bigger than usual, too. I was happy Dan got to meet the people I spend so much of my time away from him, with.

And on the way home, we saw a rainbow!

The Lunch Requests of a Sick Man

Although we made it out for the dinner party last night (courtesy of TheraFlu Daytime), Dan is still quite sick. In fact, we got home and he was running a mild fever. So the quest to keep him fed and happy continues.



While I worked in the yard today, Dan stayed on the couch, but kept busy thinking of ideas for lunch & dinner. When I got washed up, and cleaned up the kitchen a bit, he handed over the list and I headed down to the store to pick up more supplies.



I think sickness for many of us produces cravings akin to pregnancy, which results in meal plans such as today's lunch: Smoked Salmon with Wheat Thins, Blanched Broccoli with French Onion Dip, and Chicken flavored Rice A Roni (which was so steamy I couldn't get a good close-up). You may also notice a glass of orangish liquid in the photos, which is my big tall delicious glass of Airborne - an attempt at continuing to ward off this sickness.

Aloha Plates & Cherry Cupcakes

For the past year, every other Thursday my coworkers and I end the day with a little social hour, where we trade off bringing food, wine, beer, etc. to enjoy while we leave the projects and reports behind for awhile and get to know each other better. When it first started, our department had just grown by a couple people (myself included), and it was a great way to learn more about my new teammates. I think it's really helped us work better together, by accelerating the process of finding common interests and learning to communicate better with each other. This was the first event I was going to hopefully make it to since the new year, since I've been OOTO for several due to headaches and illness. Plus, our coworker Jen was going to be bringing in her new baby boy for everyone to meet, which was really exciting.



So last night, despite being wiped out, I made some Cherry Chip cupcakes with a marischino cherry juice flavored buttercream frosting. I frosted 16 of them as if they were one big cake, and brought them in for the party.

It turned out to be a great time. Anne made some delicious bar cookies, Yarrow made her grandmother's 'Working Girl's Snack' recipe (cream cheese with soy sauce and green onions, with triscuits), and we had wine and cheese and apple and my cupcakes.

For dinner tonight we had planned to try a new recipe for Shrimp Cous Cous, but we were so out of it last night that we forgot to take the shrimp out of the freezer. Plus, I ended up at work late for the social hour, so for a second night, we had to stray from our meal plan.

My fiance picked me up from work (in Downtown Seattle), and we swung by Uwajimaya, the Asian grocery superstore, to grab some takeout. It was after 7, so many of the restaurants had already closed, but we still had some good options. And as usual, the Aloha Plates siren song (they always offer samples and then hand you a menu when you get close enough) was too strong for us to resist. I ordered Kahaku Prawns (prawns in a really yummy creamy sauce) and my fiance ordered Huli Huli Chicken. It being the end of the night, I guess they had chicken to spare, so they hooked us up with twice the normal amount of chicken. Of course, being a Hawaiian restaurant, every menu item is served with a scoop of rice and a scoop of mac salad.

After getting our food, we were walking back through the store to our car and spotted a very special type of wine that we've been looking for. I won't risk spoiling a surprise for a friend, but we bought 3 bottles (there were 3 varieties), and then headed home to enjoy our dinner. More on the wine later.