Cronuts, Day 2

And the adventure continues...

Day number two is not a big time commitment. The work involves combining the butter block and the dough. This day is integral to the light, flaky layers within the cronut.

The first 20x20 square I rolled out was not quite a square. But the second 20x20 square I rolled out was a bit more successful. The difference was the placement of the rolling pin. On the second square, I made sure that the rolling pin always overlapped the edge of the dough. (Does this make sense?) Previously when I rolled the dough there was about one inch of dough outside the end of the rolling pin, that led to edges that were not straight. The second time I made sure the rolling pin was outside the edge of dough which helped maintain the square shape. I made an infographic, below, to illustrate what I'm talking about.

Bucatini All'Amatriciana

I love this recipe! I first had it on my first night in Rome at the start of my semester abroad in college. The pasta and sauce were homemade, so this recipes requires some commitment as it takes a bit of time to complete!

I got my pasta recipe from the KitchenAid pasta press manual. Jump to page 10 for the Basic Egg Noodle Pasta. I actually make this recipe in my Cuisinart food processor instead of in my KitchenAid mixer.

1. Put 3 1/2 cups of sifted flour in the food processor, add 1 tsp salt, pulse to combine.
2. Crack four large eggs into a measuring cup. Turn on your food processor and add the eggs. 
3. If the dough does not form into a ball slowly add in cold water, maximum 1 TBSP, until the dough collects into a ball on one side of the food processor.
4. From here, knead the dough for about 30 seconds and pull out walnut-sized pieces of dough to drop into the pasta press. 
5. Follow instructions and guidance from the manual, in regards to speed, etc.

I made a video of making the pasta! It is fairly long, so if you don't have time to watch it all, here are a few tips from it:

• King Arthur Flour is the best, because Dave's grandma says so :)
• If you make your dough in the food processor, make sure you have the dough blade attached
• "Sifted flour" is different "flour sifted". The first wants you to sift (or add air to) the flour and catch the flour below the sifter/strainer in your measuring cup. The latter, flour sifted, wants you to measure out the amount of flour then sift it to separate and add air to the flour.
• Quick math lesson: 7/8 is halfway between 3/4 cup and 1 cup. (You need to know this when determining if you have enough eggs!)
• Place a wet paper towel underneath your cutting board to prevent the board from sliding across your countertops! 

The Amatriciana sauce is so tasty and so simple. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

1. Small chop 2 yellow onions
2. Dice 1/2 pound of pancetta in strips. I like to ask the deli counter to slice the pancetta about 1/4" thick.
3. Heat a dutch oven, or something similar with a heavy bottom, over low-medium with some EVOO in the bottom. Add in the pancetta and cook until it's toasty and brown.
4. Add in the onions and continue cooking until onions turn translucent
5. Pour in two 28 ounce cans of whole Italian San Marzano tomatoes. As these cook the tomatoes get soft and I like to go after everything with a potato masher to break up the tomatoes.
6. Bring to a boil and then drop it to a simmer for at least one hour... the longer the better! Season with salt and adjust as you go along.

To finish your pasta in the sauce, pull out 3-4 ladles of sauce and set aside. Remove the pasta from salted boiling water one minute early and add it to the pan of sauce. Add in 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano and a swirl of EVOO, then stir to combine. Add any remaining sauce, as needed. 

Mangia and enjoy!!

Secret Sauce 2.0

When I studied abroad in college I learned a simple go-to recipe for salad dressing. It has only seven ingredients and no exact measurements. It's great on salads and pretty much anything else! When I came back from my semester in Italy I began making this dressing for my roommates - it was an instant hit and always in our fridge! Thus, when I graduated early I made sure to pass it forward. I wrote the recipe down for my friends and I even recorded a how-to video! (I am not kidding.)

Unfortunately, six years ago, during the making of the first video we had some technical errors and the video wasn't completely recorded. That's why when my college roommates came to visit me in Austin earlier this month, I was again inspired to record the making of "Caitlin's Secret Sauce"!

Now, I'd like to share with you, Caitlin's Secret Sauce version 2.0 (a.k.a. version "Grad School").

1. Start by adding your extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I prefer this in a 2:1 ratio, respectively.
2. Don't worry about following an order for everything else. You'll have to add in:
1. 3/4 clove of garlic, minced
2. Salt
3. Freshly ground pepper
4. Lemon juice
5. Dijon mustard
3. Mix everything together with a fork. Taste and adjust accordingly.

It's super tasty! If you have a chance to try it please let me know. Also, if you tend to prefer sweeter dressings, you could easily put in honey or some sugar to sweeten things up!

homemade christmas goodness

When I posted a picture of my homemade gifts on Facebook last night it received a comment that just literally made my day, week, and month!! An old friend from college said "...how do you make pinterest real?" What a compliment!! Thank you, Christina :) It's true a lot of my inspiration comes from Pinterest, I cannot claim to come up with these ideas all on my own. But many times there are not distinct instructions to follow (or any at all) and so, I'm left to my own vices.

Back in October I began one of this year's Christmas presents - vanilla extract. I was surprised to learn you make vanilla extract simply with a vanilla bean and vodka. That's it! Time could certainly be considered the third ingredient since it takes at least two months to "stew" before it's usable. And so, I stocked up on bottles from Specialty Bottle and picked out some vanilla beans from Beanilla.

 

The ratio of vodka to vanilla I used was:

• 4 ounces vodka
• 1/2 vanilla bean

It is important to split your vanilla bean down the middle so that the guts (commonly referred to as the "caviar") are exposed to the vodka. As I began wrapping these bottles up last night, I was tempted to open one and take a whiff because I wanted to make sure what I was giving was up to par. Trust me when I tell you, it smelled heavenly. And the good thing is - this is the gift that keeps on giving! As you use the extract, simply add more vodka to the bottle and the vanilla bean will continue to lend its flavor.

 

The other homemade bottled gift I made was rosemary infused olive oil. I ended up doing this in two batches and learned quite a bit from both experiences! Each bottle was set up with two to three sprigs of fresh rosemary. I warmed the olive oil over low heat on the stove until little tiny bubbles formed. Then I used my trusty filter (it kind of looks like a red silicone tornado in the picture above, no?) to pour olive oil into the bottles. Well, this is where I quickly learned that hot oil does not like to be confined to a small space. The moment the oil poured in, it appeared as though it was boiling! It bubbled and rose up - so the trick here is pour SLOWLY. I let the oil cool overnight before I put the corks on. 

Then, because I didn't trust the corks to stay put in the bottle (especially during holiday travel) I opted to buy some bottle sealer wax beads. For sealing the bottles you'll need:

• Pot of boiling water
• Empty can
• Wooden/disposable stirrer

Add about one to two inches of water into your pot, not high enough for the water to spill into the can. When the water is almost at a boil, pour the wax beads into your empty can and place the can in the water. My can wasn't heavy enough to sink to the bottom, so it floated around a lot. I was concerned that it would tip over but that never happened. I used a wooden kabob stick to stir the wax as it melted. Once it was all melted, take the can out of the water (I suggest using oven mitts!) and place it on a solid surface, i.e., countertop. You'll then invert the top of the bottle into the liquid wax. I decided to do two dips because the first seemed somewhat translucent. Two was perfect - and I used my wax stamp to add the fleur de lis detail to the top!

I used a simple velvet ribbon tied around the neck of each bottle, with a small homemade tag, and a golden bell. The ribbon and bells were purchased at Michaels. I just love how these turned out and I'm excited to gift them this coming week!

bread crumbs

I'm a big fan of bread crumbs. Yes, this usually involves pan frying - not the healthiest preparation option, but delicious nonetheless. However, it can also involve baking! Such as homemade chicken nuggets :)

I almost always have a combination of Panko bread crumbs and Italian seasoned bread crumbs on hand. My favorite seasoned breadcrumbs are from 4C but those are not available at my local super market. Sometimes I go with Progresso, though currently I have Cento and they're really good!

I had some extra white bread left over after Thanksgiving and since we're not a white bread kind of couple, I decided to make some homemade bread crumbs. I left them plain, rather than seasoned but I can always add spices and herbs to them in the future. Simply lay out the bread so that it gets a little stale. You'll notice a change in texture within a few hours.

At that point, break up your bread into pieces and drop it into a food processor. Turn on the food processor to get a nice fine grind of your stale bread!

Transfer your crumbs into a bowl. Pour some olive oil and add salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to combine.

Spread your crumbs out on a baking sheet and pop them in a 350 degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Watch carefully because they'll quickly switch from golden brown to burnt!!

Enjoy your new breadcrumbs on chicken nuggets, eggplant parmigiana, and more!!

sponge bun

I recently tried out the "sponge bun", aka Bun Maker, by Conair. A friend of mine recently used one, and it looked great! I did some research and YouTube watching to figure out the best approach on how to use it. I have a lot of hair and it's currently medium length, so I wasn't sure how I was going to wrap it around and secure it to the sponge bun. I went with an approach similar to the directions on the back of the box;

• Secure hair in a ponytail
• Pull ponytail through the center of the sponge bun so it's resting around the elastic
• Take sections of hair and wrap it over that section of the sponge bun, secure with a bobby pin
• Wrap the rest of that section around the sponge bun, continuing to secure with pins

Because I have so much hair and it's rather heavy, this wasn't the best approach. The look I achieved was favorable, though; a chic messy bun with lots of volume. However, I had to continue to play with the bobby pins all day and chose to remove it completely around 3 pm. At that point I twisted my hair into a bun and secured it with an elastic - I'm lucky enough that I can achieve a full bun with just my hair!

Next time I might try the rolling technique. This involves securing a ponytail and using the sponge bun from the tip of the tail and rolling your hair around as you roll the sponge bun towards your head.

hurricane productivity

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, my fiance and I got to spend some quality time at home together, in between the emails and conference calls from our couch! And, I took full advantage of this unexpected free time. Including painting my nails to coordinate with my halloween costume; Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, due to shipping delays (also thanks, but not really, to Hurricane Sandy) the "Girl on Fire"/second half of my costume is not complete. And thus, I'm sticking with her arena attire. At least my nails are glittery! (Pictures to follow.)

Popovers fresh out of the oven!

Tuesday brought out my inner domestic goddess. I woke up and instantly decided that I was ready to bake. A quick web search resulted in some promising popover recipes! I opted for this recipe which I found on Authentic Suburban Gourmet because it is the traditional Neiman Marcus recipe (which I love - you must try their popovers if you haven't yet!) and it has no butter (yay for cutting down on saturated fats). Please note, you don't have to have a popover pan, you can achieve the same look using a traditional muffin tin, they will just be a little more stout. That's what I did.

And while I expected to follow up the popovers with some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I opted to take a few hours break from the kitchen and returned around 5 pm to make a before-dinner snack. Toasts with toppings are by far one of my favorite finger foods! I'm pretty much willing to try any combination of ingredients. Here are some toasts topped with (in no particular order): gruyere cheese, fuji apple slices, fig preserves, and slightly burnt and crispy caramelized onions.

Started a new painting and prematurely grabbed my new koozie with my new initials!

But my favorite at-home activity was putting together some lined envelopes and stamped notecards! I was inspired to do this months ago when I saw Emily's post on Cupcakes and Cashmere. It wasn't until recently, though, that I treated myself to a glue pen (for easy glitter application) and stumbled upon some blank stationery. So, with the three cards and envelopes I found, I went to work using the leftover scrapbook paper originally rationed for my birthday party decorations.

Take an envelope, and cut a piece of paper to fit about half an inch from each edge.

 For the picture above, I used our glass balcony door to help with the see-through effect and lining up the edges. I also folded the "template" in half so that when I cut it, each side would be even. Also - you only need your liner to be a little longer than the bottom of the triangle cut in the envelope.

Use your template and trace the shape on the back of your liner paper.

Once you cut out your liners, slip them into an envelope and see how they look! Also, hold the liner in place with your fingers and close the envelope. This will create a crease right int he liner and help keep it in place while you glue it down. Use a glue stick for adhesive. I found that keeping the liner in the envelope was easiest, fold it at the crease and push it down a little. Add a bit of glue directly on the envelop at the crease and then on the triangle of the liner. Unfold and press into place.

Some tools I used to add a little something special to the cards. The glue pen is new!

So, I need a little stamping practice. But here's the finished look!

I am so happy with how these turned out!! Now I just need a reason to send them... Hmm. Also, let me know if you want any :) Happy to make more for friends.

ombre manicure

Ombre is quite trendy right now. From hair to flowers to clothes, this look can be spotted anywhere! I have seen a number of ombre manicures, mostly on Pinterest. There are also a number of different methods people recommend. You can use the brush from your polish bottle to blend the colors together. You can also make each finger a different shade to create an ombre effect, like I did here and here. Or you can use a makeup sponge to dab and blend the colors.

The method I used for this manicure, I found on Pinterest. I had previously tried this method without success but I was determined to give it another try. First, find the colors you want to use for your ombre manicure. These can be different hues or tones of a similar color family. You can also go with a contrast look using black or white with a bold color for a nice pop!

I went with Essie's "My Place or Yours", "Very Cranberry", and "Runway Reality" for a three-tiered fading effect. Start with the lightest color and paint your entire nail in one or two coats - enough to get a good covering. Make sure you let the base color dry. This is very important! (And, the mistake that I made the first-time I used the sponge-applique ombre technique.)

Apply one or two lines of each polish color to the edge of the makeup sponge. Either light to dark, or dark to light - depending on how you want your final ombre effect to look. Make sure you get the polish on the sponge good and heavy because the sponge will soak up some of it. Now - take the sponge and press it down lightly on your nail. Hold for a few seconds. Then dab it a few times on that nail. The dabbing will help fade the colors together more harmoniously. Continue this process for all ten nails and finish with a top coat!

Voila!

packing for a/c not the forecast

Last week I had the pleasure of flying to Dallas, TX to coach 400 of the newest practitioners at my firm. Most of these Analysts are recent college grads, others have previous work experience, and a few already have Masters degrees. The diversity of backgrounds and experiences ultimately leads to a successful and engaging learning experience but it also reminded me that their exposure to office cultures was limited, at best.

As a coach at this week-long training I knew to expect cold temperatures because I had been fooled too many times. Rather than packing for the forecast outside, I planned for the blasting air-conditioning inside. This turned out to be a successful method as I usually didn't step outside until I was enjoying dinner on the patio or while en route to the bar after the sun had set. This is a common trap for women to be conscious of when traveling for business, so I've included some tips to keep in mind when packing for your next conference!

• Mix and Match!
• Multiple layers take up more space in your suitcase and chances are that space is precious because you have a carry on. Choose 2-3 jackets or cardigans that coordinate with multiple outfits to save space.
• It's okay to wear the same pair of pants or the same skirt twice. Change up the top you are pairing it with and nobody will ever notice!
• Prepare for the A/C not the Forecast
• I suggest wearing pants! Not only is it cold in the rooms but I am usually worked to the bone and so tired that I have minimal interest and time to commit to shaving. Yes, I know that's not something y'all want to hear but it's true. If I can skip a day of shaving my legs after getting only 4 hours of sleep, I am grateful! 
• Pack pantyhose or stockings. This can go against your mindset for summer months - but remember that you're not outside in the heat, you are inside in a cold conference room! If you don't feel comfortable in pantyhose, please refer to the bullet above :)
• Fashion or Function?
• Shoes take up precious space in your suitcase as well. Pack some pairs that are versatile enough to wear day and night. You'll also want to think about an overall color scheme so that you can wear your shoes with multiple work outfits throughout the week.
• Don't forget that most conference centers are big... you'll cover a lot of distance between your room, the ballroom, the restaurant, and more! If you are wearing heels consider a thicker heel or a strap around your ankle. And don't forget those band-aids.
• Consider your Audience
• If you will be socializing with your colleagues, peers, and supervisors outside of the sessions, put a little thought into what is and what is not appropriate to wear. The shirt that slips off your shoulders may not be a great idea. 

Do you have any other suggestions for packing for a work trip??

wedding planning 101

The guide to wedding planning is the actual "planning". Having an idea of how you want your day to look and feel is an important part of getting started. Luckily I had been thinking a lot about my wedding before Ross popped the question, so I had a list of venues to consider and a pinterest board to consult!

I adore this centerpiece and would love to have something like this in the foyer of my venue.

Having support is also a big help, this is where my Mom stepped in. Before Ross and I left for Cabo, my Mom and I sat down to talk through the places for consideration. While we were on vacation she called our list and got the important details:

1. Available dates
2. Cost per head (including open bar, service charges, and tip!)
3. What options does the menu include? (For example, if the cocktail hour only includes tables and no passed around hors d'ouevres, I would expect to see a significantly cheaper cost.)
4. Are linens included? Are the gold chiavari chairs extra? (The ones that look like bamboo.)
5. Do you have extra fees for valet service?

These are all really important pieces of information to collect in the beginning so that you are aware of all the costs and none come out of the woodwork to surprise you down the road. It helps to write these questions down and track the answers for each venue you talk to. It will make the selection process much easier! So, thanks to my Mom we were able to narrow our list down pretty quickly!

A classic and simple twist that got QUITE the reaction on pinterest!!

By the end of that week we had picked our venue and started choosing menu items!! We also reserved the band (including a harp for the ceremony!). And later booked our photographer from our engagement session - more to come on our engagement session soon!

I hope to recreate a photo similar to this on our wedding day!

At this point my one "walking down the aisle" pinterest board expanded into quite a collection. This is helping me keep things organized, especially as I start approaching all of the details. For example, I know for sure that I want to get peach and gray striped paper straws, have childhood pictures of us on the doors to girls and boys room, and put together welcome bags that represent us and New Jersey!

I am totally swooning over this bridesmaid dress!

For your browsing pleasure, here are links to my pinterest boards:

• Walking Down the Aisle
• Wedding Flowers
• Wedding Hairstyles
• Wedding Shower Inspiration
• Bridal Fashion

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