Post-Halloween Shake Down - My Treats on Paper Garland

So the snow was a huge party pooper on Saturday and Jake and I never ended up going out.  We ordered Chinese food and it took TWO HOURS to get to our apartment.  Good lord, I miss New York.  Today we went to a quiet little shindig with some people from his law school section, so at least I got to wear my costume in public.  On Saturday I still dressed up and made Jake let me take pictures of us.

I do at least have to be grateful that Boston didn't get the majority of the snow.  Nothing like my hometown of West Hartford where my parents' front yard currently looks like this.  Yup, that's a tree on the house.

My friend, colleague and blogger extrordinaire Paloma posted about my Halloween treats on her blog Paper Garland today.  She is a legit pro so I feel totally flattered.  Her blog is full of all things pretty and wonderful so you should totally check it out.

  Happy Halloween to all! 

The Cupcake Update: Halloween Edition

So some of you may be wondering: Where have all the cupcakes gone?  The truth, friends, is that they have gone the way of my waistline.  I've lost almost ten pounds on Weight Watchers so I've had to seriously cut down on the cupcakes in my life.  But I still love a good cupcake and a good treat.  Especially on Halloween!  So when the lovely ladies of NNAF came over my place for a little pre-Halloween pizza and wine I had to bring back the cupcakes.

These are the pumpkin cheesecake bites with orea crust and caramel topping that I also made.  The recipe (which is a lot easier than it might sound) is below.  Enjoy your treats!

Ingredients:

8 oreos

1.5 Tbs. Butter

8 oz. package of cream cheese

1/2 cup of pumpkin puree 

1/2 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla 

1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

1/4 tsp. nutmeg 

1 tub caramel dip 

cupcake papers 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Grind oreos in a food processor.  Mix with 1.5 Tbs. of melted butter.  Press into bottoms of muffin papers and bake for ten minutes.  

Blend cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Spoon mixture on top of oreo crust, until 3/4 full.  

Bake 25-28 minutes or until set.  Top each with 1 tsp. caramel dip.  

Makes 12

A Homemade Halloween

Let's not let a little snow get us down.  Okay, I admit - it's seriously getting me down.  (Especially living in this city of no cabs and abominable public transportation - okay, done with the Boston rants for the day, I promise).  I remember years past where I could go out in just a costume - no tights, no coats, no umbrellas and I was warm and happy.   This year I'm having to make some minor adjustments.  But I thought I'd look back on some costumes of years past, which I pieced together mostly from Michael's and my closet.

I'm a Tree!

It's pretty simple.  I'm wearing a brown dress and I'm covered in fall leaf garland from Michael's.  Some people thought I was an autumn nymph or something, but I really wasn't even going for something that cute.  

I'm Princess Lolly!

This one took a little more elbow grease, i.e. hot glue gunning.  I bought a tiara at Michael's and a bag of lollipops at the dollar store (the kind you got at the doctor's office or in the bank drive-through, not those fancy ones with bubble gum in them or whatever).  Then I glued the lollipops to the tiara.

For the giant lollipop, you put a small dowel into a styrofoam round and cover it with colored cellophane and tie it with ribbon.  

Note my partners in crime are also Candy Land characters: Lord Licorice and and Mr. Mint

I'm Little Red Riding Hood!

Okay, so this is probably the biggest cop out, because I just bought the cape on Amazon.  It was going to be cuter when Jake was going to be a modern Big Bad Wolf by getting a grey workman's shirt with one of those embroidered name things that says: B. B. Wolfe.  Now he's  going to be the Russian Oligarch from the DirecTV commercials "I also like savingz me ze moneyz."  Pictures to come shortly.  

The problem, of course, is the forecast.  So I'm thinking a red pea coat and jeans might have to be Little Red's new attire.  Wish me luck!

The Woman-Hating Right

Don't let a female Vice Presidential candidate fool you - the Right holds onto base sexist views, both men and women alike.  Watch the video below because no one says it better or funnier than Steven Colbert.

Colbert on Women's Health

What he doesn't say explicitly is that these views are based on an extremely sexist view of women.  What the commentators are saying is: women can't be trusted.  We can't trust them to make smart decisions, even when those decisions are about their own bodies.

They are also saying that women's health is not important, in fact, it is not even part of healthcare.  Birth control, breast feeding - these are not healthcare, they're the frivolous privileges of women.  Because you know, abuse counseling is to pedicures as...no it just doesn't work.

I would say the whole thing is hypocritical - that the government shouldn't get involved with women's reproductive health to give them birth control, only to tell them they can't have an abortion if they have an unplanned pregnancy.  But it's not hypocritical because the same thinking underlines both positions: women can't be trusted.

Let Me Teach You How to Dougie

Yes, I have been known to bust out this dance move every once in a while, but I am far from a pro.  So who better to learn from than the experts, e.g. The Biebs, the cast of Glee, and the First Lady!?

And just for some extra fun...

Sandrine's: A Gem in Harvard Square and a Throwback to French Class

Do any of you who took high school foreign language classes remember picking new names to use in class that reflected the language you were learning?  You'd be Jose if you were Joe, or Guillaume if you were Will.  Well, I was Sandrine.  So when I saw this restaurant (http://www.sandrines.com/) while Jake and I were trying to figure out where to go on a Friday night, it seemed like it was calling my name, only I was in 10th grade french class.

The restaurant is quiet and cozy with an open brick oven, off a side street in Harvard Square.  It's not too loud or too pretentious.  The service was friendly and the food was amazing.

I started off with the Ginger Cosmo; I didn't even have to read all the ingredients because the first one was tequila.  So while I have no idea where the ginger comes in, it was basically a tequila cosmo and while I may enjoy a high brow entree every once in a while, my taste in alcohol lies firmly in Spring Break Cancun.  It was fabulous.

For my main course, I had sea scallops in a tomato beurre blanc sauce with roasted sweet potato slices.  Jake had the choucroute, which came with a ham hock and so many artfully displayed sausages on a bed of sauerkraut.  Sauerkraut at a French restaurant?  Of course, that uneasy marriage of French and German from Alsace makes for a great meal, and reminded me of one of our favorite New York spots, Cafe D'Alsace (http://www.cafedalsace.com/).

But nothing beat dessert.  I'm a sweets girl.  I don't understand Jake's love of cheese for dessert.  Not that I don't adore cheese, because I do.  But the end of a meal is for that last sweet bite.  We split a chocolate pot de creme with peanut butter cream and peanut brittle.  It was the best pot de creme I've ever had, and that beats out the one we had at Barbuto in New York from famed chef Jonathan Waxman (http://barbutonyc.com/).  It was haute cuisine Reese's, how could I have kept from falling in love?

A note about going out to wonderful dinners in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville - beware the brick!  Don't wear a beloved pair of heels ladies, as tempting as it might be.  The brick and cobblestone walkways are quaint, but not fashion friendly.

Chicken Cassoulet Date Night In

Last night Jake made me french cuisine in our new dutch oven.  Cassoulet, a french peasant dish, combines bits and pieces of whatever meats peasants could scrape together plus a lot of beans and some vegetables.  Using ham, sausage and herbs, the beans take on a lot of flavor.  If you want a very hearty and very, very delicious dish, I've put the recipe below.  Add a bottle of wine and a dvd rental and voilà, date night in.

Ingredients
4 whole chicken legs, without skin
1 smoked turkey kielbasa, cut into large chunks
1 thick slice of ham, cubed
1 onion, cubed
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cans cannellini beans
7 garlic cloves, 4 sliced and 3 minced
2 tsp. olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
4 bay leaves
fresh thyme
fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
string or cheese cloth

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Season chicken legs with salt and pepper.
Combine all three herbs into small packets using string or cheese cloth.
Saute olive oil, minced garlic and ham over medium high heat in an oven safe pot until ham and garlic are browned.
Remove ham and add chicken legs until brown.
Top with ham, kielbasa, vegetables, beans, herbs, tomatoes and chicken broth.
Cook for one hour, or until chicken is cooked through, stirring after 45 minutes.