ruins of ancient italy

while our absolutely unforgettable stay at Podere Patrignone, we took one morning to take an easy hike across the hills, with one big, furry horse of a dog tagging along on our heels.

Volterra Bicycle Parking

because in Italy, it's always better with a bottle of vino ;]

a beautiful mess

after hours of late-night construction, Rachel, Adel, Shayne, and Abby (who dominated flower-design and construction) have secured (thanks to Pete) a beautiful trunk full of flowers for the wedding--they were beyond gorgeous, in anyone's opinion.

While all these girls made it happen, check out Adel's site--she's up for hire, if you're lucky!

two of the most delicious things in life...

of course, had to be showcased at the wedding: coffee and chocolate!

A small mason jar of a single-origin from OQ Coffee and impulse bars, 70% dark from Green & Black's organic.

Being that I am back-dating this entry, I am recalling from memory the amazing friends who executed this and made all the things during Wedding Season and the wedding itself go off without a hitch, many things which we were not aware of until waay after the day--some, we may never even know!  We are so immensely blessed beyond imagination.   And beyond these things, continue to be thankful for incredible friendships and support. Thank God! 

Chocolate Raspberry Souffle

Wed, 5 Jan 2011:

Make use of your ramekins:  make a soufflé.

eXtropia

It took three semesters to finally come across "eXtropia".  The story of eXtropia itself is rather fascinating, in a convoluted, tangled history of "parents" Selena Sol and Gunther Birznieks.  I'll leave it at that. 
Anyway, this is a very different post:  not food, not photography.  Nonetheless, it is something "new", and is worth sharing.  Reading anything on computers, programming and databases are never fun.  I repeat:  never fun!  But at least these guys make it easier.

eXtropia

Check it out, if you're a data geek: eXtropia

march of the [littlest] carrots

So we dropped seeds for carrots last spring and decided to let them "over-winter"... it is very comical to see what we've produced.  See Exhibit A below:

Exhibit A -  littlest carrots in size order: from tiniest to tiny

Next time, we'll use sandy-er soil :D

Spring = Running Outdoors

After four weeks of being sick, running is as refreshing as a tall glass of water!

Going for 65-minutes turned out 7.84 miles.

Johnson Park & DnR Canal tow path, Highland Park NJ

Cupcake Craze

Warming up February with...chocolate!

peanut butter frosting dominated this cupcake

...topped with a triangle treat of italian chocolate*

*thanks for Rob who took the photo before they disappeared

card-making

I'm beginning to document my cards...I would definitely do this more often!

Adding a splash of lemon to the New England winters

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread (Muffins)

This was a King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook recipe--book is complement of my roommate...I told myself (and her) that I wouldn't steal it :D

Useful measurements!

• 2 large lemons = 2 tbsp zest, + some extra for decorating
• I used oatmeal oats to make oat flour.. this was brilliant, since I don't think I use oat flour often enough to buy a bag.  Use a blade grinder and you can make it as fine/coarse as you like.  I got it to very fine, and still used a flour sifter to add to the rest of the other flours and dry ingredients (all of which were sifted too--makes for fluffy whatevers)

topped with with lemon glaze and zest*

spread some raspberry jam on it, 

to eat as a glorified breakfast item**

* Add an additional tsp and a half of milk to the glaze...because for me, this was more like a paste.

**:D  also, I haven't tried this but:  it may be interesting to take/make some raspberry jam, heat it up (just a touch to liquefy) and swirl it into the batter before baking.

Deans' Baby Shower

Shaun & Leslie..you will be missed!

'spro machines, brew methods, and beans, oh my

I had the awesome opportunity to go to Providence, RI with OQ in October 2010 (8).  We met some great people (like Jay from Spro seen below), played on some sweet espresso machines, and learned about the science of milk---so as not to scald it when steaming for milk drinks.

Here is a photo of a tasting of various brew methods; from chemex, to french press to more obscure methods like the eva solo and aeropress, they all made one stunning cup o' coffee.

brew methods

Also, Sarah from Barista Magazine did an article on the event... She snuck a photo of some of us...check that out!

Mamuto Grand Cru...?

(this is from October 2010)... just catching up on my posts :]

Of course, this would pair best with coffee...found on George Howell's blog, @benschellack suggested we make a Bittersweet Chocolate-Blackberry Tart.  Now I love fruits, and I definitely love chocolate.  However, I didn't have a tart pan, and instead, made this in ramekins. While delicious, I realized why this is to be made specifically in a tart pan:  the ganache is incredibly rich!!  Nonetheless, here it is:

(recipe from janet, master baker, with a few edits)
Crust
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (try Askinosie or easier to get at most grocery stores, Ghirardelli)

1 ¾ cups. of all-purpose (unbleached) flour

4-5 tbsp. ice water

Chocolate-Blackberry Ganache Filling

2 cups organic whipping cream

¾ cup quality seedless blackberry preserves, no sugar added

½ cup caster or superfine sugar

12 oz. (1 1/4 cups) 70% chocolate, chopped (Lindt’s is easy to get)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

3 cups fresh blackberries for topping

Prepare the pastry. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Drop butter in and work into flour mixture until crumbs form. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time until the mixture forms together. Be careful not to over mix, as this will toughen the pastry. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the work surface. Turn out the dough onto the plastic wrap. Use the wrap to help shape the dough into a flat circle and wrap tightly. Chill for one hour.

Lightly oil a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to an 11-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick. Peel off the top sheet of plastic wrap and invert the dough into the prepared pan. Press the dough lightly into the pan. Remove the plastic wrap. Prick the dough with a fork and chill for 1/2 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 10 minutes or until just set and lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Prepare the ganache. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and blackberry preserves and sugar. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Finally, stir in the butter until melted. Cool to room temperature.

Assemble the tart. Pour the ganache into the prepared shell. Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight until ganache becomes firm. Add blackberries and a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Easy and fun to make.. probably because it was made over 4 nights :D

Making tea in a vacuum

Yep, that's right... in a vacuum!

On the left the water is getting vacuumed upwards into the top glass cone.  On the right, after all the water has bubbled up, it drips back down into the pot.  Usually used for coffee, this was a pleasant and fun brewing experience of tea.

Herbal tea with bits of blueberry.

End of Semester Packaging

Well you can't quite eat it, per se, but you can unwrap it and brew it!  The third semester of urban planning ended well, complete with the surprise of holiday packaging for OQ coffee.  The night before my final, final presentation (a proposal to RUDOTS for a bicycle-sharing program), there was a push to mail out some goods.  I was happy to help; I got to use an xacto knife and cutting board again, play with some lovely, black, satin ribbons and send some holiday cheer (and coffee).  Here, for the first time, is the brand, spankin' new OQ holiday coffee gift set--what more could the coffee-lover ask for?

Nicaragua, Rwanda, and Sumatra never looked so good

Time warp forward to see OQ's 2011 Holiday box design!

Mom said Gong-gong would go for a hike up the hill outside his apartment almost everyday, 

and on his way back, go through this park.

 

My guess is it was very strenuous, yet peaceful. I bet he got a lot of his thinking and praying done here...boy does that sound wonderful! While he can't do that anymore, I'm sure he's much happier with Wai pwo.

(Mr.) Winter Squash

Apologies for the lack of eye candy of the finished dish in this post... However, I offer a photo of Mr. Winter Squash, harvested from our community garden...from seed!  Out of the giant vine that nearly took over our ~10' garden bed, this squash was the only one to really take off--and boy did it ever! #growyourown

October 2010

At first when cutting into it, the squash seemed very hard.  However, sources tell me that winter squashes just are harder, even when they are ripe!  "Baked Butternut Squash Stuffed with Sausage and Apples" recipe from Joy of Cooking ...you can't go wrong.
Or, you need a Ben to do it for you.

Heirloom Tomatoes

From the Dees garden, some heirloom tomatoes:

 

September 2010

Return of the Blaby Tomatoes (BBC)

An interesting article from 2006 on a guy in Leicester, who is spreading and encouraging the growth of heirloom/"heritage" tomoat0es by dropping seeds everywhere.  Apparently, you can contact him, and he'll give you some. ;]

Bent Spoon

If you're after a cool summer treat in central Jersey, look no further than the Bent Spoon in Princeton, NJ (unless you're looking for delicious iced toddy, that is--then you go to oqcoffee.com)

Family was in town and I offered to treat them to some gelato.  Still full from lunch, the gang said, "oh, no, Jessica--we'll just have a bite of yours."  Little did they know, this not your average serving of gelato.

After everyone had their little licks of honey sage and blueberry passionfruit*, dad disappeared into the Bent Spoon with Amy trailing behind.  Mom sat on the bench, but soon enough, she disappeared too.  Minutes they, they returned with the following:

more photos from the life-changing experience:

*all from NJ; some as close as the garden across the street at Princeton U--except passionfruit, but hey!  Sometimes you need a little from the tropics to jazz it up.