Luckiest Girl Ever

I'm almost over my cold and have some late school nights this week so Mr. Lawyer made some of his famous lasagna. This time he made it spicy! A little bit of red pepper flakes made it a zinger.

I'm one lucky girl.

Maple-Brined Pork

Tonight was my turn to say "mmmm...I'll keep you!" Mr. Lawyer made an amazing maple-brined pork loin and it was well worth the wait! We had never brined anything before and it was amazing. So soft, tender, and moist. The flavors were amazing: rosemary, sweet maple, dijon. Yum. Definitely a keeper recipe! I also recommend deglazing the bottom of the pan and adding that yummy dijon-maple glaze to your finished dish.

Maple-Brined Pork Loin

(from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 quart cold water
1/4 cup salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless pork loin roast
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Directions:
1. Mix water, salt, 1/3 cup maple syrup, garlic, ginger, rosemary, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Place pork loin in brine mixture and refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
2. Remove pork from brine, pat dry, and season all sides with salt and black pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
4. Heat vegetable oil in an oven-proof skillet over high heat. Cook pork, turning to brown each side, about 10 minutes total.
5. Transfer skillet to the oven and roast until pork is browned, about 40 minutes.
6. Mix 2 tablespoons maple syrup and Dijon mustard together in a small bowl.
7. Remove pork roast from the oven and spread maple syrup mixture on all sides. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, until the pork is no longer pink in the center. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145 degrees F (63 degrees C)

Hot Buttered Rum!

"I know it's bad because you're not complaining" says my darling Mr. Lawyer who surprised me with better cold medicine (where is the theraflu people?!) and pitas last night. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and powered through many sickness adventures which resulted in me winning the perfect attendance award every year for grades 6 through 12 and never missing a college class. Nerd. However, that doesn't mean that I don't dramatically and loudly announce my slow death when I come down with a cold....much to Mr. Lawyer's delight. This better be my body getting everything out of the way for this winter because between the bug I had the other week and this miserable cold I am done being sick. Plus I'm almost out of tea! On the upside Mr. Lawyer has been making me delicious warm drinks and is making dinner for me tonight!

Hot Buttered Rum

(from The Ultimate Bar Book)

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 ounces hot water or milk
2 ounces dark rum
1 tablespoon butter
Freshly grated or ground nutmeg
Directions:
1. In a warmed heat-resistant mug, combine brown sugar and hot water, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the rum, and float the butter on top.
3. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top.

Hot Toddy!

We survived Disney! But now I'm coming down with a cold which I will blame on our hellacious airplane ride home. Nothing like being stuck in a holding pattern above Philly for 30 minutes after the bumpiest flight I have ever been on. Luckily Mr. Lawyer whipped me up this Hot Toddy to help with my throat....and by help I mean burn with both temperature and whiskey. Whiskey is not my favorite liquor so the first few sips made me make a face and go yiiiiiikes! But it will definitely help me sleep! We're going to get my penguin humidifier out too!

Whiskey Hot Toddy

(from the Ultimate Bar Book)

Ingredients:
Lemon slice studded with 3 whole cloves
1 teaspoon granulated or brown sugar
Pinch of grated or ground nutmeg
1.5 ounces bourbon
6 ounces boiling water
1 cinnamon stick
Directions:
1. Drop the clove-studded lemon slice into a warmed heat-resitant mug.
2. Add sugar, nutmeg, and bourbon.
3. Pour in the boiling water, and stir with the cinnamon stick.

Happy Fall!

Tomorrow morning we're off to Disney for the Food & Wine Festival! There will be plenty of yummy food, drink and fun times with our three friends (plus one baby). We even have a Patron tasting...I sense that night will not end well, but someone needs to watch the baby! I'm loving this weather and decorated for fall the other week. Here is our spooky bar.

 More decorations after the jump!

Comfort Food Monday

Man oh man. Nothing like some nice warm and spicy mexican food on a chilly day.

I used a sweet corn salsa (from the Fly Creek Cider Mill), cheddar cheese and black beans for the quesadilla. I popped them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. They were served up with some spicy guacamole, cool sour cream, refried beans and brown rice. Plus some chips and salsa on the side. All washed down with some Ommegang Witte in the proper glass because that's how I roll. 

There was something very comforting about this meal.

Coffee Heaven!

Oh my god Philly what did you do with my Fall?! One nice week of proper fall weather and now it's all high 70s hello humidity. Blerg. At least the gray skies is working in your favor but it's like a bright gray, I still wore my sunglasses. So on this not so fine, oddly hot and humid, cloudy afternoon I found myself falling asleep while lesson planning. Pinterest to the rescue!

I love yummy flavored coffee drinks from coffee shops. It's how I survived grad school/student teaching, never underestimate the power of a well placed white chocolate mocha during a 3 hour night class. I do not love how much sugar/calories each glorious cup contains and the price tag that is attached to it! Needless to say I rarely get yummy coffee treats anymore unless we're traveling. This recipe is going to change that! It was delicious, tasted like the real deal, and you can control the sugar/calorie amount! Plus I had all the ingredients so my immediate out of pocket cost was zero. Winner. Whipped cream is never optional and don't skip the salt! Just a pinch makes a nice flavor contrast.

Salted Caramel Mocha

(Pinterest find! From 52 Kitchen Adventures)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coffee
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons caramel sauce
1-2 tablespoons hot chocolate powder
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup milk
Whipped cream
Extra caramel sauce and sea salt to drizzle/sprinkle on top
Directions:
1. Prepare coffee. 

2. Place caramel sauce, cocoa powder and sea salt in a mug. 

3. Pour coffee into mug, stirring to combine everything. 

4. Heat milk in microwave or on the stove and add to mug, stirring everything to combine. 

5. Taste and add more caramel, cocoa and/or salt to taste. 

6. Top with whipped cream, caramel sauce and a tiny pinch of sea salt.

Crock Pot Meatloaf?!

Mr. Lawyer made this meatloaf in Law School and really liked it so I decided to give it a go when he requested meatloaf. The flavor was nothing special, regular meatloaf taste, but it was so moist! Definitely an interesting spin to cook it in the crock pot. Plus it made the apartment smell so good!

On the other hand the picture is horrible! Apologies. In order to get through the gross meatloaf picture (can you ever make meatloaf look pretty?!) I'll start with some yummy chinese food on Fiesta! I was finally able to eat real food yesterday (I had been sticking to cereal since Saturday) so we decided to celebrate by ordering out. Yum yum.

 Gross looking but yummy tasting!

Old-Fashioned Meatloaf

(from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds ground chuck or meatloaf mix
2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion or shallot
3 tablespoons grated carrot
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup ketchup or tomato chili sauce for topping
Directions:
1. Place ground meat, oats, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, onion, carrot, salt, and pepper. Mix together gently but thoroughly. Shape the meat into a mounded oval or loaf.
2. Make a foil cradle to help remove the cooked meatloaf. Take a 14 inch strip of foil, fold it in half lengthwise, and fold again to form a 3 inch strip. Repeat with a second piece. Place both strips in the crock pot in the shape of an X.
3. Place the meat mound in the crock pot and slather on the 1/2 cup ketchup. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.
4. To remove grasp the foil handles and lift the meatloaf up and out onto a platter.

September Round Up!

I made chili while it was still 85 degrees out. It was delicious but not as spicy as I wanted it. Also, I love my soup and sandwich tray.

 Sometimes on a gloomy rainy day (and when your uterus is trying to kill you), you just need some mac 'n cheese and garlic bread. Mmmmmm carb comfort food.

 This cupcake had a giant air bubble and was hollow!

 We made Grandma's Strata again for breakfast all week. This time we sauteed up some onions and peppers to add some delicious flavor. Make sure to bake it a couple extra minutes.

 Pudding Fiesta!

 I've been making some luscious iced coffee with the leftover sweetened condensed milk from somebody's birthday cake...

 Nothing like seeing a flying hvac unit outside your window. It was like a fever induced dream.

Oreo Cupcakes!

Before I got sick and died Friday night, which has subsequently ruined my weekend and Monday, I went over to Jackie's to bake some cupcakes with her. We decided on Oreo Cupcakes. I must admit that I have been spoiled by my homemade cupcake. All I could think about when I ate one was "this tastes like cake mix". But they were so easy and tasted fine, if you're not a cupcake snob, it's totally worth keeping the recipe for school parties. We used white cake mix so it wasn't too chocolately and I loved adding the cookie in the bottom! The frosting was a bit of a mess. It was too runny (we should have chilled it) and we didn't crush up the cookies enough and they kept getting stuck in our cake decorating tips!

Oreo Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 package Oreo Cookies, regular size
1 package Mini Oreo Cookies, for decoration (optional)
1 package chocolate or white cake mix (mix according to directions on box)
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cupcake liners
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix packaged cake mix according to directions (do not bake). Line cupcake tins with liner, place a regular size Oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner. Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 minutes (or according to box directions). While cupcakes are baking make the frosting.
2. Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar slowly until blended well. Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine. Add to frosting. After cupcakes have cooled frost and decorate with Mini Oreos.