Easy Homemade: Hummus

I absolutely love Hummus. I’m partial to Sabra, but really any hummus (as long as it’s smooth and creamy) will do. I have fond memories of mashing chickpeas by hand on Friday morning at my Jewish summer camp so that the whole camp could have homemade hummus for dinner. Although I was willing to mash bucket of chickpeas then, I have since lost all patience for such activities. Luckily, with a handy-dandy food processor, I no longer have to put any elbow grease into making hummus. Making homemade hummus is surprisingly easy, and most of the ingredients you probably have lying around anyways.

What you’ll need for plain hummus:

1. one can (16oz) of chickpeas/garbanzo beans

2. olive oil

3. salt & pepper

4. garlic

5. lemons or lemon juice (even from concentrate) will do

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That said, we had lots of fresh basil left over from when we made homemade margherita pizza earlier in the week, so I figured why not make basil hummus… so I threw some leaves in

Then hit the blend botton….

…and voilà! easy homemade hummus

I cannot wait to try to make so many more hummus creations!

Life Lately According to my iPhone

Just a few updates…

(1) Beautiful bouquet of flowers that the BF sent me at work on Valentine’s Day. They lasted forever. In fact, I just had to throw them out this morning. Good work, BF! (2) Just a little Spa day at Bella Sante on a rainy sunday (3) The perfect homemade cupcake–post to follow (4) This past weekend I surprised my parents by coming home… which obviously turned into a series of photo shoots with my favorite furry creatures. (5) Cuddling with Tyler (6) Delicious brunch with the BF at Union Bar and Grille in the South End (7) Perks of working from home

Pulled BBQ Chicken Winter

Ever since winter really set in, I’ve been using my little crock-pot even more. I just can’t handle how cute that little ceramic thing is sometimes. The BF particularly loves BBQ pulled chicken…so looks like we’ve been eating a lot of pulled chicken.

We’ve tried a couple recipes, most of which have resulted in a barbecue soup. And trust me, there is nothing as unsettling as barbecue soup with strands of chicken in it. Anyways, I finally found this recipe that is juuuuust right. Like everything, I add onions to every single recipe. So I cut up some onions “the long way” to mix right in with the pulled chicken. And because the BF is a true southerner at heart, he insisted we had Jiffy corn muffins. I don’t quite understand that kid, but I sure do like him.

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I highly, highly recommend Stubb’s BBQ sauce. You can find it at any grocery store, just keep your eyes peeled.

Winter In Boston

Winters in Boston (until now) have been all together a foreign concept to me. Until now, I have only spent summers here–in the scorching heat. But now, I see the whole other side. The side of this mushy-rain-snow and busy sidewalks. Waiting for the T outside in the cold after forgetting my hat and gloves because I was rushing out the door. This is my life in Winter. And I guess I cannot complain really, because really it’s been a joke of a winter thus far. I mean I had iced coffee today so it really can’t be that bad.

Anyways, this is what my winter has looked like this far:

(1) Night out in Cambridge to see Harvard’s modern rendition of Macbeth (2) Two of our newest ornaments: a Maine Lobster and a Driedel (3) Wine list at Tory Row (4) Followed by a delicious Downeast Cider brought to you by three Bates alumni (5) Prepping my chicken sausage, kale, and white bean stew (6) Said stew brewing (6) Stew again…but this time at work.

Needless to say, my winter thus far has been filled with crisp nights, cold brews and lots and lots of soups and stews.

My recipe came from a combination of a few I’ve seen online:

Cake Love

Ever since getting that little KitchenAid Mixer of mine, I’ve been on a baking and baked-good gawking spree. Particularly, I’ve been loving the ombre and multi-shade baked goods. I cannot even tell you how many hours I’ve spent on pinterest looking at recipes and admiring some of the craftsmanship that goes into serious cake baking.

And then the 4th of July came around. And since it was the worst possible timing. I mean, on a Wednesday, come’on. So I did what I could with limited time. Bought some Betty Crocker White Cake Mix, some Shaw’s brand food coloring and went from there

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And know that you know that I’m the best baker around–here are some examples of other, less impressive and less creative bakers…

All the pictures are linked up to the original post, so enjoy searching. And if you’re getting super ambitious, here is a step by step tutorial of ombre cake baking. So great.

What’s For Dinner

This is not a food blog, but this is DEFINITELY a food post.

Luckily for us, the BF and I both really like cooking and exploring different recipes. We’ve been trying to cook almost every night of the week–trying to eat out maybe one night a week or maybe two if we’re feeling really lazy. Here are some pictures of what we’ve been cooking and where we’ve been going out.  We’ve been using lots of summer veggies and avocado in anything and everything.

I promise that apartment-styling posts will be coming soon, we’re almost almost done with decorating. Stay tuned

(1) grilled chicken/steak tip salad (2) The BF’s beer battered fish tacos from here; we used Brooklyn Beer’s Summer Ale but really any beer will work (3) turkey burgers with grilled onions and fresh avocado (4) Vanity from Church (5) Panko crusted chicken from here roasted with potatoes and sweet potatoes (6 & 7) a Friday afternoon spent at the Phantom Gourmet’s BBQ in downton Boston (8) Grapefruit-Vodka-Seltzer at Church

I’ve been loving grapefruit this summer and have found my fix right around the corner at this very chic restaurant and music hall Church. If you’re ever in the Fenway area I highly recommend it.

Baking: Full Kitchen Style

So way back when, I posted this about what it was like to bake in college. And although I miss 99.9% of college life, I have to tell you, baking in a full kitchen with a DISHWASHER is far better than any of those cramped baked goods I made at school.

and not to mention that now I have a KitchenAid standing mixer

Dreams do come true

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Anyway, last weekend the BF flew out to Minnesota to attend (and present!) in a health economics conference. What a smarty pants, I know! And just like I posted about the BF leaving in July of 2011, I wanted to make something special for him when he came back home. This past Christmas his wonderful grandmother gave me her secret recipe for mocha frosting (the BF’s ultimate favorite)–and thus I was inducted into the small group who know the secrets of mocha frosting and can utilize their powers to woo boys. And since I am sworn to secrecy and cannot share the recipe I wanted to show you some similar (yet, definitely not as good) mocha frosting recipes if these pictures strike your fancy: recipe 1, recipe 2, recipe 3.

 But once I got my kitchenaid (thanks, mom!) the baking didn’t stop

 The BF and I are currently seeking the BEST homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe. I used this one (sans walnuts) last night for perfectly chewy-yet-crisp cookies.  But I’m always looking for more so please share any recipes you might have!

Bittersweet Birthday

My school has a 4-4-1 schedule, making the spring term the best ever. And it just so happens that my birthday falls on the first week of Spring Term every. single. year. Therefore I have had the most amazing birthday weeks EVER since arriving to school

And this year marked my last (pink) birthday in college

Highlights include: My mom’s delicious birthday cookies, one for each year and one to grow on (other cookies featured here and here), Baking pink cupcakes–thank god for neon pink food dye! Tricking my 16 year-old-sister into thinking the BF bought be a kitten…. which he didn’t but would have been a wonderful gift and lastly, Buffalo Wild Wings for drinks and appetizers with KME. I just love those girls

Life Lately: According to my iPhone

I love life lately posts. I get to showcase everything in a single snapshot.

So here is my life lately…

1. My school sold $7 tickets to the portland sea dogs game this past Sunday

2. Watched two of my extremely talented roommates play against the top ranked division 3 team… and kick butt

3. Ginger Champagne with my Mama although her Lychee Martini was pretty delicious too

4. Attempting to make Bakerella’s cake balls and ALMOST succeeding. A little clumpier than I wanted…

5. Got bumped up to first class on my most recent flight home to school.  Gosh I love you, airtran

6. GorillaGlue sent me a wonderful toolbox full of their products to help me continue crafting!

 6. A bloody mary from the birthday brunch at my house where I got one of these looks like all I need to do is write a good blog post and the presents will appear 🙂

Life Lately According to My iPhone

Note: my iphone is unavailable during all the academic moments captured at college. Sorry that I did not take pictures of hours spent on SPSS or writing papers–they just don’t seem as visually appealing as the fun moments:

(1) smoothies at the farm with friends on a saturday afternoon (2) chocolate chip cookies for St. Patrick’s Day 3. kittens spotted roaming the farm (3) hot find at the local good will (4) loving all the dogs that attend the home sports games–pretty much the only reason I go to the games… but hey at least I’m supportive, right? (5) Brunch at the Pop Shoppe with with the BF