Sweet Talker Says

holy cow, its been a while since one of us has posted. Sorry everyone! Life has just been so busy with the end of summer. Therese moved back to DC and started a new job and working on her masters at Georgetown. I just started my MBA and am contemplating going to culinary school. So big things have been going on!! And to be honest, I kept forgetting to post on here!

Therese started a new blog for one of her classes. You all should check it out! It’s totally chic and fabulous just like Therese.

I also started a new blog (blogging is so fun! I couldn’t help it.) Follow me as I whip up 52 treats in 365 days.  Of course that’s a treat a week- you knew that though right? I was hoping to reach 100, maybe I still can!

Either way, sorry for being so MIA. Therese and I will be reunited this weekend for her birthday so hopefully we’ll have some yummy food to share with you all. And in the meantime check out our blogs!

xo Lauren and Therese

Tucked away in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, the High Line is considered to be an modern architectural marvel. Attracting green-lovers, the High Line park is a lush oasis for the sensible urban dweller. When visiting on a hot summer’s day, the perfect treat is a popsicle from the La NewYorkina Mexican Ice cart. Packed with delicious flavors like mango-chile, fresh coconut, avocado, and cucumber-lime, among others, the ice cart is guaranteed to have something sweet for you or a special someone. All popsicles are handmade with the freshest fruit. 

Luscious and affordable, La NewYorkina popsicles are definitely worthwhile. 

-Therese 

Why hello! I keep meaning to post but it’s always so busy during the summer!

I made Red Velvet cupcakes last weekend (I’ll post pictures soon) They were so good…I think the best I’ve ever tasted if I do say so myself. I used a recipe from Martha Stewart. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (One for cupcake, one for frosting)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 stick softened butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

5. To make frosting, mix the cream cheese, butter, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract together. Once that is mixed well add sugar and mix until sugar is evenly distributed and frosting is smooth.

6. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.

My notes: I used an extra cup of cocoa powder because I like chocolate and I’ll keep doing so because it came out great. Also, I didn’t have cake flour so I just used all purpose which probably made it a little more dense but so good. I piped the frosting on too, which was fine because it was the perfect frosting/cake proprotion. If your not using gel-paste food coloring (I didn’t) you’ll need more than 1/2 teaspoons. Put a lot extra in because I found that the batter may look red but once it’s done baking, it might not be.

This weekend, tie dye cupcakes!

-Lauren

It’s been quite a while since Therese and I wrote…sorry everyone!!

But the past two nights I’ve made some really good pasta salads for dinner and I’m pleased as punch with myself so I had to share.

Monday night was Tuna pasta salad. I like making leftovers for lunch the next day so I had lots of extras. Just mix two cans of tuna packed in water but drained, whole wheat pasta, one can of chickpeas drained, broccoli, and 3 tablespoons of mayo together. I am not a big fan of raw broccoli so I steamed the broccoli in the microwave for 1 and a half minutes so it was slightly cooked but not overly so. It literally took me 10 minutes and it was so nice to not have to turn the stove on and have leftovers. I’ll definately be making that again!

Last night I made a lemon chicken and orzo pasta salad. First I browned some chicken breasts in the skillet with a little bit of lemon juice. I didn’t measure, just squirted the juice until i thought it was enough for my taste, I like lemon a lot. While that was cooking I boiled the water for orzo and started cooking it. Once the chicken was done I cut up a singles pack fresh italian parsley leaves as fine as I could (I am no master of the knife) and cut the chicken up. Let it cool. When the orzo was done I drained it and ran cold water to let it cool down too. Once everything is cool mix it together, put a little more lemon juice and some olive oil (otherwise the orzo will be like sticky rice) and then some feta cheese and its ready to eat!

Hope you enjoy and if you have pasta salad ideas send them my way!!!

-Lauren

I’m not really sure what the usual recipe for sausage and peppers is but I’ve made my own that’s easy and can be one of those “everything but the kitchen sink” recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of sausage (I like a mixture of hot and sweet)
• 2 peppers (whichever color you like…I use one green and one red)
• Olive oil
• Extra veggies…this is where the everything but the kitchen sink comes in. If you have onions, mushrooms, or any other veggie you think might go well and are about to go bad, throw them in!
• Half a jar of tomato sauce (or more to taste)
• Oregano, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. I don’t get exact here, I go by taste. If you have fresh herbs that are about to go bad, use them. I throw whatever herbs and spices I feel like in there. It makes me feel better about using jarred sauce.
• Pasta or bread- depends on if you want pasta or a sandwich as your meal.

Directions:

• Heat a skillet on medium high heat with enough olive oil to coat. Throw in the veggies. Cook until the peppers are a little soft.
• Either cut the sausage or take it out of the casing and put it into the skillet. (I take it out because I don’t like eating the casing. It just means you’ll have to seperate the sausage a bit while cooking, like you would ground beef)
• Once the sausage is cooked through, add in the tomato sauce, and herbs and spices of your choosing. Bring the heat down to low, cover the skillet and let simmer until the sauce thickens. Sometimes I take the skillet off the heat after 10 minutes with the lid closed so the sauce can thicken that way too.
• Enjoy with your pasta or crusty bread!

What I love about this recipe is that it’s really hard to mess it up and it only takes about a half hour to make. Also, if you use a tomato sauce that has a serving of veggies or throw in some extra veggies it’s a good way to make sure your balancing your meal. Added bonus, if you cut the veggies up small, pickier eaters won’t even notice they’re eating them!

I’m back in the kitchen!! This time making Chocolate cupcakes with Peanut Butter frosting that I adapted from a recipe from Barefoot Contessa. I must admit, I was a little lazy and got boxed mix for the cupcake part but it was still delish!

Ingredients

For the cupcake:

• Chocolate cake mix, your favorite chocolate cake mix, or you can try the one listed on the site. Try getting a cake mix or using a cake recipe that is heavy on the chocolate.

For the frosting:  

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

My suggestions: Definately use a very chocolatey cake recipe. The frosting can overpower the cake if you don’t. Also, I used more peanut butter in my frosting and more cream because I only had light cream on hand. Next time I’ll put in more peanut butter and less sugar. You could probably get away with using 1/2 to 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar depending on your taste.

Sweet Talker Status: The frosting was a little too overpowering compared to the cake and it was a little too sweet for me, but I like trying things again until I think I have it right, so I’m going to keep all my suggestions in mind for next time and try again.

-Lauren

Next time I want to get those Reeses bites to decorate or put in the cake batter. Yum :)

If you can’t tell already, I am a Rachel Ray fan. I could care less that she’s not a “real” chef, the girl makes some yummy easy-to-make food!

Anyways, I love shrimp so I made this Shrimp Scampi recipe that’s delicious and not as fattening as the usual scampi. I didn’t have some of the ingredients so I worked with what I had and it still came out delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 anchovies
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 stems oregano, leaves stripped and finely chopped
• A generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound linguini (I used spaghetti because that’s what I had, linguini is definately a better choice so it holds more of the sauce)
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup basil leaves, about 20, torn
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add anchovies, garlic and crushed pepper to the pan and cook until anchovies melt into oil, a couple of minutes. Add herbs and wine and reduce for 1 minute then melt butter into sauce. Add stock and water to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in the shrimp and pasta and reduce heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 7 to 8 minutes until pasta is al dente and shrimp are firm. Stir in zest and juice of 1 lemon and basil, season with salt and pepper to your taste.

My suggestions: I didn’t have any anchovies on hand,so I didn’t add them and probably won’t next time I make this. If you like the flavor anchovies add, then definately add them in. If you don’t like anchovies or don’t have them on hand not to worry it’s still good. Definately use the fresh herbs, I only had dried ones and it worked, but fresh is always better. Also, if all you have on hand is spaghetti that’s fine but linguini is better because it soaks up more of the sauce. If you have extra sauce in the pan, drizzle it over the pasta for more flavor.

Sweet Talker Status: This dish was delicious, it did not feel heavy like a more traditional scampi can, but there was lots of flavor from the herbs, lemon, and red pepper. Will definately make this again.

- Lauren