Sticky Fingers Lemon Poppyseed Scones

I made Sticky Fingers Lemon Poppyseed Scones earlier this week. 

Sticky Fingers Lemon Poppyseed Scone Mix

Just add water and mix

Put scoops of mix on baking sheet - this seems to be where the sticky fingers part comes in.

I had two for breakfast the other day with butter and raspberry jam.

Blue Apron Fresh Turnip Green Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Baby Hakurei Turnips & Pears Salad

Tonight we made our first Blue Apron recipe: Fresh Turnip Green Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Baby Hakurei Turnips & Pear Salad.

Prep work

Pasta cooking with turnip tops

Verdict = Excellent

My only question thus far for Blue Apron is: Why don't you send a blue apron with the first delivery?  It would be very cute, useful, and good advertising.  Overall, I think this is such a cool service and a great way to get some well-balanced meals. 

First Blue Apron Delivery

It seems like everyone I know is doing Blue Apron—a dinner kit delivery service that sends you recipes and pre-portioned ingredients.  We are doing the two person/three meals per week vegetarian option for $59.94.  The first delivery came tonight:

Blue Apron Box

The box was packed with ice packs, and the ingredients were still fresh.

All the ingredients portioned and ready to cook.

I'm really excited to use new ingredients and find out if I like them. 
Bulgar, curry leaves, and mong dal are new to my cooking vocabulary.

The recipe cards walk you through the entire recipe step by step.

This week's menu is Stuffed Cabbage with Bulgar & Sweet-and-Sour Tomato Sauce, Fresh Turnip Green Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Baby Hakurei Turnips & Pear Salad, and Bangaladumpa Upma Koora.  I think this could be a good way to get more veggies into our diet and do some portion control.  I'll let you know how the recipes turn out. 

Trader Joe's Spelt Risotto and Black Box Malbec

When you don't know what to have for dinner, it's nice to have some frozen meals.  We found this Trader Joe's Spelt Risotto in the back of our freezer tonight. 

Trader Joe's Spelt Risotto with Vegetables and Chickpeas

When it first came out of the bag it looked pretty disgusting.

It started to look a little better, but there were still weird frozen chunks of sauce.

The risotto looked fine once it was cooked.

I piled on some parmesan cheese and ground black pepper.

I decided to pair our dinner with Black Box Malbec. Why do they tout its tobacco flavor?

Libbey Stemless Wine Glasses that I bought at Target this week.

Dinner was good; it tasted very hearty and healthy.

Week in Review: Dirt Dessert, Target, and Cheese Ball

Dirt Dessert (or Dirt Cups) were served at my high school cafeteria, and this week I had a serious craving.  I followed this recipe off Kraft's website:

Ingredients

1 pkg.  (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding 

2 cups  cold milk

1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed 

15 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 1-1/4 cups), divided 

10 worm-shaped chewy fruit snacks (I skipped these)

Directions 

Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Stir in COOL WHIP and 1/2 cup cookie crumbs.

Spoon into 10 (6- to 7-oz.) paper or plastic cups; top with remaining cookie crumbs.
Refrigerate 1 hour. Top with fruit snacks just before serving.

I halved the recipe and did two separate batches.

I did the second batch in a big bowl.

I went to Target this week and fell for these "Swoop" chairs, but resisted:

In Black Herringbone

Velvet in Overcast

This week, I also discovered that the Whole Foods 365 Cheddar Cheese Ball goes really well with Carr's Roasted Garlic & Herbs Crackers.  You probably don't want to eat this right  before you go somewhere as your breath will be pretty horrendous.

365 Cheddar Cheese Ball and Carr's Roasted Garlic & Herbs Crackers

Williams-Sonoma Tunisian Hand-Painted Fresco Tagine

We finally used our Williams-Sonoma Tunisian Hand-Painted Fresco Tagine for dinner tonight.  It's from our wedding registry over two years ago.  My husband followed this recipe.  He did a really good job.

Beautiful tagine hot out of the oven

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Couscous

Preserved lemon and olive chicken tagine

Dinner

My half-eaten dinner — it was really good.

Essie Downtown Brown and Weekend Summary

I try not to get too many pedicures in winter as my feet do not need as much tender loving care as they do in the summer when they're pounding the pavement (literally) in sandals exposed to the dirty streets of NYC.  This weekend, however, I decided that my feet were looking/feeling pretty gnarly and I needed to spring for the $25 manicure pedicure deal at my nail salon.

Essie Downtown Brown - it's nice to start the work week with manicured nails.

My toes looking much less disgusting than before.  I love pedicures.

Other weekend activities included Thai takeout, a field trip to Michael's craft store, Trader Joe's Cinnamon Rolls again, and catching up on the latest episode of Sherlock. Did you know that Watson (aka the Hobbit) and Mary are a longtime couple in real life?  Now off to bed to read and try to fall asleep before 1 a.m. — I'm not tired yet!

Happy Feast of the Epiphany!

Today is Epiphany, and so on the way home from work, I stopped by Financier Patisserie to pick up a Galette des Rois.  I previously wrote about these cakes here.  A sweet end to the holiday season!

Galette des Rois

Financier Patisserie put it in a cute, classically French bag.

We had apple cider (as is traditional) from Trader Joe's

I got the porcelain fève in my piece!

Lazy Weekend Pasta

My husband made an adjusted version of this pasta sauce.  Instead of beef and pork, he used ground turkey and portebello mushrooms.  It was delicious and slightly healthier.

Snow Day Pasta

Delicious dinner

Snow Day and Trader Joe's Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls

My office is closed today for the snow, and I feel like a kid having a SNOW DAY!  I slept in until 10:30 a.m. and then made these awesome Trader Joe's Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls.

Once I wrangled them out of the tube, I placed them on an ungreased baking dish.

After around 19 minutes in a 350℉ oven, I took them out and let them cool for a minute.

They come with a tube of vanilla icing — cut off a corner and then squeeze over rolls.

Et voila!

Snow Day Breakfast

I hate to admit it, but they are much better than the Pillsbury kind I made here.  They are just the right size and texture—enough that you just need one.  These cinnamon rolls are warm, soft, and not dry at all.  Happy Snow Day!