Guinness Stew

I really love reading food blogs, and dreaming about when I can make the recipes that I see.  This was one of the first recipes on my list of things to make, because it sounded heavenly.  It was the perfect recipe for St. Patrick's day, as it was hearty and filled with veggies.  My sous chef (my fiance) suggested that we add some chicken or beef next time but I thought it was perfect without any meat.

My mom actually asked me NOT to give this soup away because "it was too good."  I laughed a lot about that one.

Recipe- Adapted from The Curvy Carrot 

My sous chef hard at work peeling potatoes.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
6 small celery stalks, chopped into bite-sized pieces
16 ounces (1 lb) button mushrooms, cleaned, de-stemmed, and sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
One 11.2-ounce bottle of Guinness Stout
4-5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 lb (about 3-4 large) Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soup base
1 small can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
4 cups water
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic (chopped or pressed whatever floats your boat)


1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat until shimmering.
2. Add onion, celery, and about 1/4 of the mushrooms, stirring frequently until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the flour, stir to coat and cook another 2 minutes.
4. Add Guinness carefully!
5. Add everything else, and bring it to a boil.
6. Decrease the heat to low, and simmer the soup uncovered for about 45 minutes.
7. ENJOY!

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

As prep for spring break, I made a list of all the recipes that I wanted to make at home in the comfort of a stocked kitchen, and the list ended up being WAY too long.  I couldn't have made all the recipes if I had three weeks at home, nonetheless one week.  So, I painstakingly edited down the list to make a semi-reasonable amount of food over spring break.

After I made the list, I wanted to make ALL the food right that moment, or at least make SOMETHING.  I might be the least patient person I know.  So, to solve the problem that I created for myself, I decided to make some chocolate chunk banana bread for my drive home.   It was a wonderful decision.

However, because it was a little late a night, I totally forgot to take pictures.  Ah well.

As a child, my family never had chocolate banana bread, even though we had lots of banana bread, and this was because my Dad does not like chocolate.  So, chocolate banana bread is SUPER exotic to me. I am still trying to get over how much I liked this.

Also- Handy idea for the bananas, when they start to get too ripe to eat, peel them and freeze them until you have time or enough bananas to bake with!

Recipe- (I got this recipe from my mom, who got it from who knows where.  I'll ask her and post credit soon.)

3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large bananas)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1 to 2 cups chocolate chunks (depending on how chocolaty you want it to be.  this can also be omitted.)

1- Heat oven to 325 degrees and grease two 9x5 pans.
2- Mix sugar, bananas, oil and eggs.
3- Mix in remaining ingredients and pour into pan.
4- Bake 60 to 70 minutes.

Enjoy!

Brownies

YUM.  These were good.  A friend had a bad day, and I really could not think of anything better to cheer her up than brownies.  I decided to make them in a muffin tin because they would bake faster (I didn't start making them until 11:30, so the difference between a half hour baking time and 12 minutes really counted.)

Sadly, since I am new to this food blogging extravaganza I totally forgot to take pictures when I was mixing the batter.  I actually didn't remember until the brownies were in the oven and I had finished washing my dishes. Ah well, this is a learning curve right?

Muffin Shaped Brownies (adapted from the bakers one bowl brownies)
- I made muffins so they would be easier to transport.  Also- Instead of mixing chocolate chunks into the batter, I put big chunks on top, which was a really good idea until they sunk when they were cooling.  Not the prettiest, but still yummy!

Ingredients
4 oz of unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped chocolate/ chocolate chips (whatever type you like.  I am a sucker for any type of Trader Joe's pound plus chocolate.)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line muffin tins (or a 13x9 pan) with tinfoil, making sure the foil extends over corners.  Grease foil covered pan.  (making sure you have enough foil is super important if you have muffin tins, as is greasing... two steps that I forgot.  Ooops!)

Microwave

 chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl for approximately 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. (You might have to microwave it more.  Just be sure to do it in small segments to not overheat the butter.)

Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and chopped chocolate or chips, stir to combine.  Fill muffin tins, filling each 3/4 of the way full (you will have more than 12 finished muffins).

Then precious brownie is wasted by being stuck to the tinfoil.

Bake for approximately 14 minutes for muffins or 30-35 for a 8x8 pan.

Cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving/ sharing with friends!

The one part of food blogging that I will never forget is the sacrifice of one product solely for the purpose of taking pictures, and then, as to not waste food, you have to eat it.

YUM.

Italia!

This past January, I had the opportunity to travel to Italy, specifically Florence. While I was technically there to take an art history class, I was really there to explore a country that loves food.  Italy was a truly wonderful gastronomical experience for me. 

Some delicious bruschetta and sparkling water... YUUM

All different types of muffins at a bread stand at the San Lorenzo market.
Sadly, I did not eat one of these muffins.

The most delicious lunch on the go I have ever eaten.

Every day in Italy, I would wake up and want nothing more than to go to a cafe, get a cappuccino and some decadent pastry and enjoy being somewhere new.  Breakfast in Italy is simple.  No one is caffeinated quite yet, so the world is quiet.  (Believe me, when Italians are caffeinated, they are ANYTHING but quiet.) Many tourists do not get up early, so the whole experience has an air of authenticity that can not be achieved during the rest of the day.  I miss this stillness, this simple but unbelievably decadent breakfast.

This is a spinach and ricotta pizza.  This pizza was the BEST pizza I have ever had in my life.  Now, I am from Chicago, so I have some pretty strong views about what a good pizza is, and this pizza single handedly changed my world-view of pizza (something my fiance has been trying to do for a while).  It was THAT GOOD.

I hope to go back (especially to the pizza) someday and experience the food of Italy again.

Meg

My love of food.

I love food.  I always have loved food, because it brings people together.  I love the versatility of food.  I love the process of making a good meal, or a celebratory dessert.  I LOVE to eat good food.  I love that food can instill emotion.  I love that food can reach out and connect people.  I love learning about food.

As a young girl, my mother would bake with my sister and I in our kitchen, and I remember being amazed at what a bunch of regular ingredients could turn into.  I continue to be amazed at what food can do to a group of people. The soda bread that made me proud to be of Irish decent.  The soup that warms up your soul on a gloomy winter day.

I have wanted to start a food blog for awhile, as someplace to share my adventures in the kitchen, and my love of food. Currently I am a senior in college, who has lived in the dorms for all four years, and I miss kitchens.  Real people kitchens.  Dorm kitchens are not my favorite place to hang out in, because they lack the heartbeat of a true kitchen.  I love the feeling of creating something in a kitchen that has been well loved and taken care of, and I find myself looking out at the void of post-graduation excited to create a kitchen that I get to love.

I follow a bunch of food blogs where i drool over the recipes (and lets be honest kitchens as well).  I hope this will provide a space for me to document the recipes that I try.

I invite you to join me with a declared love of food!

Meg