Straight Stitches

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Is It a Fail If It Tastes Good?

Dana November 04, 2012 0 Comments

Yeah, yeah, I know, I've done a lot of coffee posts of late. I have a problem, my name is Dana, blah, blah, blah. It's my kitchen! I do what I want! What delectable caffeined delight have I concocted this week? Nothing much, just a Cuban coffee. If you don't know, Cuban coffee--cordadito, cafecito, cafe cubano, I've heard a lot of names and I don't know what's correct--is a tiny sip of heaven served in a demitasse cup that makes you want eighteen more. It's basically espresso sweetened and prepared so that there's a sugar crema on top. This last bit what what I failed to achieve. Good thing there are do-overs. ;-)

I used this recipe from Epicurious. In case you're wondering why I chose it, it was the first one that came up and looked pretty easy.

First, the equipment. My much beloved stovetop espresso maker.

Here's my attempt at making the sugar paste. I'm thinking I didn't add enough coffee. See how it's not so much a paste as wet sand?

Here's the finished product. As you can see, there's no crema.

Good thing it still tasted delicious! This is a very sweet and strong drink, though, so handle with care. I got a bit over zealous and had way too much that night. Yes, night. That little cup had about four servings in it. Four! And that's how late it kept me up...but I learned something at least and can try again this morning.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween Y'all!!!

Heather October 31, 2012 1 Comments

Its been an adventuresome couple of months here, but hopefully the changes will be dying down. I went back to work for a spell, and then the hubs got a job, so I left said job to go back to staying at home and so far its been awesome. Except for, ya know, the hurricane conditions.

Luckily, I had Halloween set up before Sandy decided to visit, and even more lucky is that we did not lose power. It flickered and what not, but never went out, so I'm just going to thank my lucky stars for that.

So here's our Halloween decor! Pay no mind to the mess......I had to rearrange the rooms on Sunday.

I reused stuff that I've had in years past, with the addition of my red apple. I had grand illusions of doing an Evil Queen themed mantle, and well that was my addition. :)

Oh for the table I did add a new purple owl. Love the $1 section at Target!

So there's the buffet in the dining room. I'll be showing more of the dining room later, but as you can see - its been painted again. :)

And that was Hurricane Sandy at about 3 or 4 on Monday. It got much worse later through the night, but thankfully we got through unscathed.

I'll be posting more often because I have actually gotten projects done while I was working I just didn't have time to post them!
Heather

Friday, October 26, 2012

Easy Treats

Dana October 26, 2012 0 Comments

Howdy folks. I haven't been up to anything big this week, but lots of little things have been happening. Let's get right to it!

First and foremost, I had another anti-Starbucks victory--homemade pumpkin spice latte. I feel especially proud of this one because it was ALL ME! That's right, I didn't use a Pinterest recipe or anything. What's better than that is that I didn't use pumpkin puree like so many recipes call for. I've had PSL copycats that use pumpkin puree and it's quite bitsy. That's a problem I figured out a way around. I feel so proud of this incredible feat that I almost don't want to share my secret. Food is meant to be shared, great food doubly so. That being said, here it is, my big secret ingredient...

Yes! It's like apple butter but more committed to autumn. This works so great, and it's from the farm where I do a lot of my grocery shopping. I got this idea from the farm chef, Richard (I've spoke of Richard before when I shared about my beet revelation), when he told me about a cocktail he made using pumpkin butter. Genius!

Dana's Pumpkin Spice Latte

2 shots espresso

16 oz milk

1 tbsp pumpkin butter

Add the espresso to the milk and heat (I just toss mine into the microwave for two minutes). Then stir the pumpkin butter into the hot latte. Go to your nearest Starbucks and enjoy rubbing it in their faces.

AMAZING!!! That is all you need to know.

I've also been playing with sandwiches lately. Sandwiches are kind of an untapped treasure in my repertoire I generally just do PB&J's with fancy jam. I've had some great sammies while out recently, though, and I thought to myself, Why don't I do this? So I've started. Generally my system is to put a bit of protein with a special cheese and a fruit spread. Yes, fruit. Why? Because it's delicious! A little touch of sweet with savory is incredible. My recent favorite is pork with buttermilk cheddar and cherry fruit spread. I also like to use Genius by Glutino's GF seeded bread.

So that's what I've been up to this week. What are your favorite simple but fantastic fixes?