Are we there yet??

The answer to my question in this title is not quite, but we are close. Next week I have finals. While no one ever says "Yes! Finals!" I am very excited to have an end to yet another semester. On the other hand, I have finals next Monday then return to summer classes the Monday after that. Summer will be "bootcamp" so I am told. Six weeks of 5 days a week with 3 days being clinical...Yuck. Hopefully that will fly by...
This past weekend I spent living it up with friends. A last hurrah before my self-inflicted punishment exciting learning experience. This was a mini-post with no real point but there it is. Have a photo from my birthday to share (it was awesome by the way.)

Life goes on

School has taken it's place as an all consuming journey for me once again. We are in week 6 of classes and clinical. This semester (so far) is going more smoothly than the last. It is exciting to be able to preform exams on my own. I have not had many interesting or out of the ordinary encounters to report from clinical rotation so far...

I have decided to focus on my health and wellness while school is in session. On my day off I have taken up mediative yoga. It has been life altering, to be somewhat cliche. Nonetheless, I am a more relaxed and happy individual! I feel great.

Other than that our adorable baby-dog Arthur is fitting within our home and family as though he were here all along. Here is a photo just for fun.

Oatmeal Blueberry Basil Muffin

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting with my original college roommates in NYC. We all shared a "dorm" in photography school some time ago. I will not say how long ago it was...Anyway, we all love adventures and food so we decided to take a New York City food tour. It was awesome! The tickets were a bit pricy but the experience was so much fun. You taste food from 8 different places. Most of which were wonderful while some were just so so. Along with the tastings you learn so much about the history of the community and food that you sample. It was really enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone. One of the stops on the tour was an olive oil speciality shop. I am a huge fan of olive oil. This was one of my favorites from the tour followed by a cookie shop...I digress. At the olive oil shop we sampled olive oil infused with basil. YUM. We came back after the tour to purchase it. Using my new amazing olive oil I decided to make a muffin! Because who doesn't think of muffins when they hear "olive oil." Ok, so that part isn't really accurate but I found a recipe and wanted to try it.

Oatmeal Blueberry Basil Muffin

adapted from Cooking with Michelle

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour-I like King Arthur (not just because my dog's name is Arthur)
• 1 cup whole oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• ½ cup basil infused extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt-(I didn't have this so I left it out) DONT LEAVE IT OUT
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 ounces fresh blueberries 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners OR just spray pan with baking spray. Mix together the flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder; set aside.
2. Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl and add butter, oil, yogurt and sugar; stir until combined. Pour into flour mixture and mix only until combined, do not over mix, then gently stir in blueberries.
3. Scoop into muffin liners or pan and bake for about 15 minutes. Allow muffins to cool.

Disclaimer: My muffins appear more flaky than yours will since I left out the yogurt...Live and learn.

A King's haircut

Arthur is receiving his first hair cut today!! I am very excited. He is at the groomers right now. Like an actual parent, I am nervous and cannot wait to pick him up. Arthur is always adorable however I believe the haircut may send him over the edge of adorableness. I am aware of people out there who do not care for animals or dogs, to them I say, read a different post. This one is in honor of a girls best friend, no not a diamond. Although, I am a fan of those too...

I just love shorter ears.

Looks a bit choppy here but still cute.

Grandma's Angel Food Cake

For whatever reason I was recently reminded of a treasured memory of my great grandmother, or “Nanny” as we called her. My Nanny used to make an amazing angel food cake. She would bake it each year for our family reunion. The reunion was one of her favorite outings. This annual event was the only time when her large family would come together to picnic and play games. Each person would bring a dish. Her dish was the angel food cake covered with icing. Angel food cake may be considered a simple dessert today. But, her cake was soft, fluffy and the icing was stiff and delicious. Now angel food reminds me of a time that I wish I could relive. Anyway, in memory of this great caring woman I am going to attempt to recreate this dessert. 

The photo is preemptively in the spirit Valentine's Day. You may want to bake this for the ones you love as a somewhat healthier dessert option.

Copyright Trishthedish 2013

Starting with a base recipe:

Angel Food Cake:

            12 egg whites

            1 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar

            1 cup unbleached flour

            1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

            1 teaspoons vanilla extract

            1 teaspoon almond extract

            1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

The icing recipe I am still working on… As the one I used does not match my memory. Once I perfect it I will post that too. In the mean time feel free to use your own icing recipe or none at all!

Christmas Cooking

Our Christmas was filled with lots of amazing food and family. On the food side, I had some exciting triumphs in the kitchen. I recreated a classic Christmas cookie that my Mom used to make. I also put an early Christmas gift to use, a bread stone! With it I made my first Artisan loaf of bread.

"Momma's Spritzer cookies"

Spritzers before icing, plus some cherry chocolate shortbread cookies

My first loaf of bread, could be prettier but I am still happy

It was yummy

Arthur attempted to get into the spirt while I cooked...He found his role as "dropped food tester" most enjoyable. I believe he has now achieved his optimum weight! He came to us about 3-4 pounds under weight.
This holiday season was filled with many blessings and I am excited to see what 2013 brings!

Chocolate Chip Cookies- A quest

This blog was not created as a food blog. However, I do enjoy cooking and baking. During my break from school I spend my time in the kitchen, apparently.  Recently, I was on a mission to find a not too  obligatory chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I wanted to find the best! I ended up on the Martha Stewart website. Of course she had a recipe  that would probably turn out perfect... I tried it, and made a mistake that resulted in my cookies expanding like crazy! Opps. BUT these cookies turned out to be light and crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside! HA. I still had a successful cookie recipe at hand. I have since made her recipe "the right way" and was disappointed. With that in mind I am including my "mistake cookie" recipe...I liked it, as did many others, perhaps you will too. I make no claims that it is the best. It is just a damn good one ;) Eat warm and with milk for pure bliss. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (added to original recipe)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (added to original recipe) 
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, almond extract and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Drop teaspoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches (THEY WILL EXPAND!!) apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (I used a silicon baking sheet).
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. 
   EAT WHILE WARM!!!