Some knitting revealed!

Okay - one down! More to go (and for quite a long time out, I must say - we're looking at perhaps summertime here). I'm referring to the knitting that I swear is happening but that I haven't been able to reveal due to the "gift" factor. Meaning, I'm making a bunch of gifts for people! [Including a few choice macarons I packaged up] I was finally able to give this purse to Angela at her birthday dinner tonight!

This is the same purse as the one I showed you in this post. Princess Philo's Cabled Handbag. Truth be told, I had this little bag completed a couple months ago, but procrastinated on the worst part ~ the lining ~ until just the last few days. Oh man doing the lining sucks... Picking out the adorable fabric is the best part. I asked Ang what her favorite colors were and she said pink, green and purple. So when I found this really pretty pink and green Amy Butler fabric (look familiar?) it seemed perfect for Ang's lining! I made a cell phone pocket fashioned after the fabulous ones in both of my Gucci bags, put in a magnetic snap, my "designer" label, stiffened it a little with a with some interfacing, sewed it all together on my machine, and then hand stitched it to the knitted exterior with some invisible thread. WHEW! I was just finishing up this afternoon. Talk about down to the wire! Oh and can't forget the hardest part - pinning the cute brooch on the front. The best part is that she can take that off, swap it out, move it etc. But I love how it dresses the bag up.

I think {hope} she liked it. That's my biggest fear - is that I'll put all this hard work into making a bag for someone and then they don't end up using it much. I think she will though - it's definitely her style. See how cute it looks on her already? Her mom is another great accessory! ;)
Happy Birthday Angela!!

For now, photos

Knitting, knitting, knitting... I swear to you I am! As I mentioned in my last knitting entry - I am knitting up a storm, I just can't share because most of my items are gifts for upcoming events! Just be patient folks. But I promise I am definitely knitting. See - there's proof at the bottom of this entry!

As you wait patiently (since I'm sure everyone who reads this is positively on the edge of their seat) I'll throw down some extremely random photos here that I've snapped yet, for which I had no lengthy commentary. First up and really quite random, I wanted to show you the adorable Amy Butler fabrics I found recently. I was in the quilting store looking for other items but stopped in my tracks when I saw this "oh so cute" collection (and lots more) of fabric. I quickly scoured my brain and came up with projects so that I could buy some. Is it bad that this fabric is so slightly expensive that making 6 napkins (as I have planned for one of them) will still cost me almost $4 each? I guess I have to remind myself that it's a deal for specifically, very pretty napkins...

Mom and I had some amazing breakfasts at the Headlands Inn in Mendocino last week. One which she'd even told me about in advance (from her experience during a previous stay) was the Stuffed French Toast. It was fantastic! And don't you love it when B&B's share recipes? Mom showed up at my place Saturday night with all the makings for the French toast, so what was I to do? I whipped it up - let it sit overnight and baked it for breakfast Sunday morning. SO yummy. The bread/toast part fluffs up all light and airy but is still crispy and sweet on the outside!

Peachy Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
1/2 loaf sweet French bread
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 t vanilla
1/4 c peach preserves
6 eggs
1/2 c heavy cream
1/4 c maple syrup
peach slices for garnish

Cream together cream cheese, jam and vanilla. Spread generously between 2 slices of French bread. Place in pan (4 pairs). Mix eggs, cream and maple syrup then pour over bread slices making sure egg soaks in as much as possible - try to evenly coat. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Set overnight. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350. Serves 4

Next up is the rather stunning "Red Sky at Night" photo I captured in my neighborhood one evening last month. This is not Photoshopped at all. I still can't believe the intense color of those clouds. I noticed a pinkish tint as I glanced out my window that night and went outside to investigate. I'd never seen a sky like that. I remember when I was little my dad saying something about "red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning". I suppose that meant that we should have had nice weather the evening this was taken - and I think we did.

Finally, I'll leave you with a couple of great photos I got at the Giants Night-time Season Opener last night. I've been trying to get to a Giants game on a fireworks night for about a year now and for bizarre reasons - failed twice. Finally last night was perfect: the Giants beat the Padres in the bottom of the 11th inning, I saw my fireworks and there while it was COLD, there was no wind! To top it all off, I got these great fireworks pictures! Fireworks are usually quite challenging for a budding amateur photographer. Tri-pod present and shutter set at 2.5 seconds produced these. 2.5 seemed to be just the PERFECT amount of lag.

Speaking of lagging... time for bed! I've gotta rest up 'cuz before tomorrow ends there will be more macarons to gaze upon. 8-)

Je suis sans aucun doute obsédée

I am definitely obsessed. OK enough with the French, and macarons, right? But I just can't stop!! I spent HOURS last night making a collection of macarons - trying some of the flavors you all recommended in comments (*thanks!!*) These are just so much fun even though they're so much work. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with making them. I think mostly because they're so complicated and I can feel as though I've accomplished something impressive when I'm done. And also 'cuz they're just SO DARN CUTE! I love the different colors. You might think I'm crazy but I don't even love eating these - collecting them for pictures afterwards is what I really love! I had to make the pistachio again since I wasn't happy with my first batch (even though they tasted amazing). Then as I got started, I kept coming up with ideas and couldn't stop with even 2 flavors. I ended up with THREE by basing a lot of my flavors on that first round of research I did. Making dulce de leche was fun and actually really easy too! It's gonna be great on ice cream - having nothing to do with macarons!

Pistachio with pistachio buttercream
Chocolate with dulce de leche
Raspberry with chocolate ganache

I saw Deb this morning and had a nice big bag of macarons for her tied with a pink ribbon. I don't think I've seen her that excited to see me since her return from Asia. And while I had in mind for her to take some of that large bag home to Nick, I just heard she tried but couldn't help herself. They're all gone in like 5 hours!

Me, Mom, Mendocino

Mom and I started a tradition when I was in college of going away for ~3 days on a "Girls Trip". Usually to a B&B or somewhere very girly. In the past we've done Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, LA, Sonoma, Carmel, Napa... We've worked out the perfect system where Mom pays for room and I pay for board. I'm the foodie in the family so it's perfectly fair. If I want to dine at a Michelin star, then I pay! If I want McDonald's for breakfast then that's also my choice!

This Spring we did Mendocino. Mom's been there with Dad a few times and thought I'd really like it. She was right. It was ADORABLE. Felt like a New England village. And our Bed & Breakfast - Headlands Inn - was fantastic. We slept in the Wilson room the first night and the Switzer room the next two nights.

But first things first - there was wine tasting... To get to Mendocino from 101 you have to take Highway 128 which is about 60 miles connecting 101 to 1. As you drive Hwy 128 you go through a bunch of small country-like towns: Boonville, Philo and Navarro. All of which have fantastic wineries; most of them in Philo. Sharffenberger (of chocolate fame), Roederer (of Cristal champagne fame)... Navarro, Toulouse, Husch... we stopped at all of these!

Sharffenberger, Toulouse and Roederer


Husch and Navarro

Mendocino itself was absolutely adorable. 3-4 hours drive from the Bay Area brings you to this small village of white picket fences, shingled water towers, 100+ year old refurbished homes, bed & breakfasts, coastal views, flowers and friendly people. Mom and I spent a lot of time walking the coast watching for whales (we saw some!), eating lots of delicious food - and breakfasts!, strolling around the village and even lots of time in our room at night reading by the fire. Funny story about the first picture below: I set my timer for 10 seconds and booked it down the deck stairs and across the lawn. I mean I was sprinting. Mom was laughing at me and just as I sat down and tried to smooth myself out for the picture - 10 seconds was up. I set the timer for 20 seconds after that, but this ended up being the best of those pictures!

On the lawn of our B&B; Mom watching the water; picturesque village view from our window


Homemade breakfast at our door every morning; strolling through town; big comfy King bed!

We had such a fantastic time. We walked and walked and walked each day. Mom's pedometer told us about 10 miles in total! Therefore all the great eating we did wasn't too horrendous. The fire in our fireplace was lit every night and we didn't' even notice that we had no TV. (Maybe that's cuz I was on my laptop reviewing my photographs every night).  It was the perfect mini-vacation. And see the picture on the right? Oh yes, we did...

Coming Soon: Mendocino!

Wineries

Dogs
Views
B&B
Coast
Country Cute Charm
Dining
Homemade Breakfasts









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Gardens
Flowers
Ocean
Long Boardwalks
Whales
Tidepools
Adirondacks
Seafood

Je pense que je suis obsédée

"I think I'm obsessed." I said these words to a friend, tonight. Nevermind that his answer was "you're just now figuring that out?" before he even realized what I was doing. I was actually referring to the fact that I was in the kitchen making my second batch of French macarons in less than 24 hours. He thought I meant in general. Hrmph!! Well okay so perhaps he's right - I do tend to go a little crazy when I find something I like. And boy did I like those macarons!!!

Folks who tried them did too! I had a meeting with my senior director this morning and brought her a few (why did Gia immediately rub his nose when I told him that?) and she went so crazy over them she ran to the next office over to share them with another director who "LOVES macarons". Wow.

As the last line in my previous post stated - I was ready to try some different flavors! First one on my list: Pistachio! I'm not sure why except that I love the idea of turning out light green cookies. What I hadn't thought about was that the pistachios I had at home, and was ready to make into little soft fluffy macarons, were in shells and salted. So I rolled up my sleeves and started shelling pistachios, washing the salt off, drying them in the oven and then grinding them so that they'd push through a sieve. WHEW!

I wasn't as happy with this batch though. They were DANG tasty but I think I spoiled myself turning out such perfect macarons last night on my first try. Could I have gotten *gasp* overly confident?? Never! I think I worked the batter too much this time and then didn't bake them long enough. They're not quite dry enough in the center - but boy they sure do taste delicious! I shelled, washed, dried and ground even more pistachios to make a vanilla pistachio buttercream for the filling. Yummy! This is so fun! More than anything I love the idea of churning out different colors and flavors of the same type of cookie. To my friends: I'm taking requests - got a favorite macaron flavor? Leave a comment and I'll try it (and if you're local I'll try to get some to you!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Macarons vs. Macaroons

I did it! I made French macarons SUCCESSFULLY on my first try! Hallelujah!! *dancing a jig* First things first - there is a difference between the macaron and the macaroon. The latter being utterly disgusting in my opinion. The former being a delectable mountain of soft chewy sweetness. Big difference. Macaroons are blobs of meringue with nasty coconut mixed in. Macarons (aka. French macaroons) are little sandwich cookies typically varying in creative and beautiful colors and flavors. The macaron is supposed to be very difficult to do successfully but I found it quite easy tonight after all the research I'd done and with a lot of help and trial-and-error done by others first ;)! Basically I've poring through a ton of different food blogs which thankfully go into a lot of depth about how to make these beautiful and delicate little cookies. I even found myself trying to remember all my high school French whilst coming upon a French blog explaining the "how to" - but gave up quickly!

Here's who helped me tremendously - many thanks to these folks:
Tartelette
A La Cuisine
Traveler's Lunchbox

And just have to add a couple links to the famous Macaron Houses in Paris:
Ladurée - be sure to click on this to see the most famous AMAZING macarons!
Pierre Hermé - these are $3 per macaron!!!

Thank goodness for the above listed bloggers' pages and pages of notes on how to make perfect little macarons. I've been studying these pages for a couple weeks now - planning my attack and putting together a recipe in my head. My best discovery was that I can buy almond meal at gourmet grocery stores as opposed to dealing with grinding it up myself to the perfect texture. That is perhaps what saved me. I have to say the "funnest" part was tracing the bottom of a shot glass onto the back of my parchment paper so that I could attempt to make symmetrical cookies to sandwich together. The next "funnest" was piping the batter out of a corner-cut sandwich baggy since I didn't have a large enough tip! I chose to make a bittersweet chocolate ganache filling. It was really simple to make with some heavy cream and good quality bittersweet chocolate.


I cannot WAIT to try some different colors and flavors. Hehe... I'm just getting started...

Cakey Crunchy Coffee

I forgot to blog about this. And maybe no one cares. But I do - so I'm blogging about it right now! My family's famous Coffee Crunch Cake. This recipe has been in my family for I'm guessing more than 50 years. Something my Auntie Betty found perhaps before, but more likely after, the famous Blum's Bakery (Eastern Bakery and Yasukochi's Sweet Shop have their own versions also) started serving it up to drooling customers. There is a lemon version my family has their paws on as well, but I have never made it. Perhaps I'll need to try it sometime too. But we're talking about the coffee version here - so let's continue. In my humble opinion our coffee crunch cake is better than Eastern Bakery's. Eastern's is a little more like toffee (ie: a little harder and sticks in your teeth) and I can't say I've tried Yasukochi's nor was I around to try Blum's in the mid-20th Century. So as far as I'm concerned this cake is the BEST! Every time I serve it I get rave reviews.  But you definitely need to have a sweet tooth to really enjoy it...which I do!  Desserts are by far a favorite in my family. At every family party there is roughly 1 dessert per every 2-3 people. That's not really even an exaggeration!

Making my point: this is Thanksgiving 2007. Granted our get together is roughly 80
people but look how many desserts there are - and not all of them made it into the picture!

I keep getting off topic...

I really enjoy making this cake. I'm not sure why exactly because it really is a lot of work. But perhaps because of the work - it is SO satisfying to gaze upon the finished product. The photo at the top of my post was taken immediately following completion; but when you let the cake sit around for an hour or two (in the fridge, of course) the "crunch" starts to melt a little and just looks amazing! Here's all the work that goes into making a Lee Family Coffee Crunch Cake:

First I make the sponge cake. This itself takes forever because of the roughly 30 minutes you spend whipping egg yolks and whites (separately). But at least if you have a stand mixer, you can set it to GO and get to little things around the house - only needing to check in periodically. The most fun for me is when I take my sponge cake out of the oven because it's to be cooled upside down over a beer bottle! One time I took the cake out too early and the entire middle of the cake ended up on the counter about 3 minutes into "cooling". Eeeks!! While the cake cools I typically get started on the crunch part. This also takes forever - about an hour to come up to the temperature I need it to be. The crunch looks like this (on the left) as it cools. Crazy huh? After it cools completely I have to use a mallet to break it into small pieces... so this gigantic piece of coffee crunch can look a little intimidating!

Finally my favorite part: assembling! I cut the sponge cake into 3 layers, beat up a TON of whipping cream and start in on building my cake. It's certainly not beautiful before I get the whipped cream and crunch onto the outside. But this gives you a view into what's going on inside there! And voila! Coffee Crunch Cake - Lee Aunties style! My cousins enjoyed this cake a couple weeks ago, as did a houseful of friends the next night. That's right I did take a "leftover" cake to a friend's party. Let me tell you... NO ONE complained. :)

No boyz allowed!

While recovering from wrist surgery in early February I was going absolutely stir-crazy thinking about all the things I wanted to do which I could not. Talk about "hard times" making one appreciate things! I hope I never again take my right hand for granted! I found myself scheduling dinner for my cousins, a Girls Night In party and a trip to Mendocino with Mom for our (sometimes yearly sometimes semi-yearly) Girls Trip. Mendocino is still up-and-coming, but this past weekend was the "Girls Night In" party. I basically decided that my girls and I needed a night to ourselves to eat, talk about boys, eat, watch chick flicks, drink cocktails and eat. I wish more of my invite list could have made it - especially since my list consisted of some girls I've been promising a dinner party to for a while now! But with 8 of us together, we ended up having a mellow, happy, delicious and intimate night of girl-bonding. I don't know why the men in our lives don't understand the need for nights like these. All we heard from our significant others was "what will you do all night?" "is it going to be an all-night pillow fight?" Do they really think we absolutely need them around in order to have a great time? ;)

I should have tried harder to get an entire
group shot - Ali and I are missing from this one.

First things first I tried to think up a theme. The night would turn into a slumber party for 5 of us which meant I'd be serving Easter breakfast - so pastels for sure! And what do girls love but "cute, little things" right? So cute little foods is what I made! I got a little carried away for sure though. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I filled my menu with more than 1 dish per girl! Something in my head went out of control... First I was thinking "heavy on appetizers" but then as my "little things" idea came on - I forgot to scale back my already identified appetizers as I continued to add the little-foods! Well somehow it all worked and was amazingly fun (and cute) and I think everyone loved it!

Favorites from the evening ~
For the Cute Factor: Caprese Tomatoes, Mini Baked Potatoes and Baby Blueberry Muffins with a mini version of my Chocolate Chip Cookies as favors.
For the Taste Factor: Tuna & Avocado salad, Filet Mignon (yes this same one) and Petite Cream Puffs.

Too bad eating little things doesn't result in trimming little waistlines!