Delicious Brunch Cocktail!

There is a restaurant near me that makes something called the World's Best Brunch Cocktail ever - its a mix of fresh OJ, champagne and St. Germain (elderflower liquor). I love this drink but the price tag on it is more of a treat than a regular $4 bloody mary or mimosa (I love this brunch!) When I had some girls over a few weeks ago I decided that I could easily replicate it and maybe make it even better! I didn't have any regular oranges on hand but I did have a blood orange. I love the way that blood oranges look but its rare that I actually pick out a good one - they seem to be more prone to being dry and tasteless than standard oranges. As luck would have it though...I finally got a good one!

Mix:
1 oz elderflower liquor
1 oz fresh blood orange juice 
Top with 2 oz dry champagne or sparking wine
Garnish with a twist of the rind

An Amazing Detour: Burdick Chocolates and a look back at summer 2011

Even though summer is now past I can't help but look back on some of the amazing adventures we had. If I had been a good blogger, you would know all about them but alas my blogging skills, especially in the summer months leave something to be desired! Our summer started out with an amazing trip to Stockholm, Sweden. We had many fun adventures including eating a luxurious traditional Swedish Smorgasbord at the Opera Cafe (a cafe/nightclub on the grounds of the Opera house). Unfortunately while it was quite beautiful inside, it seems that our tastes are not as fond of traditional Swedish cuisine as we might have hoped.

This summer also involved many different weddings. We saw 4 different friends (well 8 technically!) married this summer and each wedding was so different and unique. I am amazed that I could go to four wedding not see one repeating element ... all of brides even walked down the aisle to a different song! take that Wagner.

It was on the way to one of these weddings that we took a little detour to a small New Hampshire town and spent a lunch at L.A. Burdicks How did we find this little gem? Unfortunately I don't have a romantic story of us antiquing through the small towns of Vermont and New Hampshire and randomly stumbling upon a quaint town with this cafe (though the town and cafe were adorable!).... in fact I don't think that I have stumbled accidentally upon anything in the past few years. In this age of technology and iphones, I did what any self-respecting foodie in a foreign land (haha I don't know if a state 3 hours drive is exactly foreign but stay with me here) would do... I googled it! When I saw that Burdick's was mentioned in three different Chowhound.com posts (and it was only 3 exits away!) I was sold (and hungry).

We arrived at a bit of an odd hour between lunch and dinner so we had the place almost all to ourselves. The pending Hurricane Irene made the quiet sleepy town even more so as most people busied themselves at the supermarket collecting water and batteries to prepare for this 100- year storm that was on track to punish New England. As the hostess called to warn those with Sunday Brunch reservations to call first in case they lost power, we sat savoring one of the most decadent mochas of all time. From the oozing, gooey, cheesy crust on the French onion soup to the freshly made salads, we very much enjoyed our visit to Burdicks. But the best part of the meal came with the check... these adorable little penguins, a Burdick trademark made paying the check a bit sweeter (along with their mice...made of chocolate of course!) After that small sample, we couldn't help taking a trip to the adjoining chocolate shop and grabbing a few chocolatey little friends to join us on the rest of our adventure.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

This recipe has somewhat be haunting me. Growing up there was really few true "junk foods" in our house, my mom always had a soft spot for potato chips and my dad loves his Oreos. Until recently I really didn't care for potato chips (my boyfriends addiction and their ever presence in my home has changed that a little!) but I have always enjoyed an Oreo. My normal eating habits tend to avoid processed food like Oreos now but I do sometimes get samples from my work of the Oreo Cakesters and I couldn't stop thinking of them. I decided that a dinner I was holding was the perfect chance to try them out (and then hand them out!) without totally killing my NYE resolution (its still Jan I have to give it at least a month!).

I took my recipe from smitten kitchen and as always they were delicious! However the cookies were not really like oreos and the batter was very grainy because of the sugar. I don't know if I did something wrong or this is just the way they are suppose to be. I have to admit... I don't remember if I put in 1c or 1.5c that was in the original recipe but I would suggest using less as they were very sweet. These cookies were made after quite a bit of glogg was consumed so I do have an excuse. Also I did not have the vegetable shortening so I used all butter - the frosting worked out perfectly fine.  These cookies were a serious hit at my party and the review on smitten kitchen mention a version with a bit of peppermint and candy cane that sounds divine. As is they were so good that I secretly hid a few of these cookies pre-party because they were flying off the plate so quickly - definitely go for a double batch!

Keep reading for the recipe....

2/10/10- Snow Day Adventures - Ribs & Blondies

Another post with no picture but I couldn't resist mentioning these amazing recipes to others.
After missing out on all the fun the past few winter storms, New Jersey basically shut down in preparation for a huge chunk of mid-week snow on Tuesday night. School was called before 5pm on Tuesday and it was looking like it might be a day stuck working at home. With all of my essentials packed up, I headed to the grocery store to deal with all those stocking up on water and canned goods for the impending storm. My mind was no where near survivalist food, I was much more focused on some lunch time excitement.
I made my first ever attempt at Baby Back Ribs using Alton Brown's recipe. While they were very good I think that the spiced rub overwhelmed the taste of the meat itself at times but I did love the glaze that was basted over the ribs before I broiled them for some color.
I also tried Joy the Baker's Peanut Butter Blondie but left out the frosting in exchange for some mini peanut butter cup pieces and chocolate chunks. These took a little longer than expected to cook (about 35 min) but they were absolutely delicious. I couldn't help but steal the one we had put aside for a photo when I came home from a long day on the road on Thursday.

2/6/10 - Lava Cake with Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Centers

This dessert was inspired from bell'alimento she made her version earlier this week for World Nutella Day. Of course I didn't have nutella (sad!) and a quick trip to the store didn't help to fix that so I had to use what was on hand....which happened to be delicious Naturally Nutty Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter I had used a car of their butter toffee peanut butter to make ice cream a few weeks back and this stuff is just AMAZING to cook with. As she warns while they may look small a whole cake is for the serious choco-holic only (or just find someone special to share it with!)