I do know it’s Thursday, and I’m sorry for the late Tourist Tuesday – but I’ve been lazy and thoroughly enjoying my vacation. However, now I’m back in London and probably just in time too because being on holiday was making me…doughy.

Ryan and I left Colorado and arrived in Farmington, Connecticut on December 29 and my parents fed us incredibly well all the way until we left on January 6. Hence, getting doughy. When we arrived, we had Christmas Part 2 and my dad made an amazing, and giant, steak. And the eating did not stop there. Wonderfully, my family made sure to check off everything on my American food check list. The next day we went out for bagels slathered with cream cheese, and I had mine topped with lox. We also went to a cute place called Monte Alban. I had steak fajitas and the meat was marinated in some awesome citrus marinade. There was also a delicious corn mash that was so good we asked for extras. We also went out for burgers, I had a milk shake, and another day I had a Philly cheese steak. My parents also cooked us seafood lasagna and a Puerto Rican feast. See what I’m talking about? I’m lucky my clothes still fit! 

Meals weren’t the only time we went crazy. Snacked on a lot of Oreos. Oreos remind me of the lunches Papa used to pack for me when I was in school. My parents had “winter” Oreos, which have red cream and cookies with cutsey winter designs. Ryan and I later went to Target and were a little overwhelmed by the amount of Oreo choices. It’s crazy! There are regular and double stuffed Oreos, but then there are birthday cakes, golden, mint, fudge, peanut butter, mega stuff, chocolate, pumpkin spice, and triple double. And there might even be more kinds that I can’t even remember. It was a little overwhelming. In fact, I fear I’m acclimating to London too well. I was walking through Target trying to buy ingredients for a recipe and everything was so huge. I kept saying things like, “I don’t need this much flour!” and “why is this can of oats so gigantic?” That felt weird and vaguely un-American.

But, I promise you I did more in Connecticut than eat – sort of. For New Year’s Eve we went to Barley Vine, a restaurant owned by my mom’s cousin Victor. Barley Vine is a really cute gastropub that offers tons of craft beers and really delicious cocktails. They had a few signature ones for New Years Eve, but generally they also have really inventive cocktails and interesting flavors of moonshine. It’s yummy. We had dinner – and of course it was decadent – a steak with a lobster tail. Then we danced, saw the ball drop, danced some more, then drove home quoting lines from the movie Nacho Libre. Why? I don’t know. The movie is funny and maybe we’d had a few cocktails.

Ryan and I also spent some time exploring Farmington and the nearby areas. I drove “my car,” which is the red one in the photo at the top. I call it my car because it was mine through high school and college and even though it’s now over 10 years old, I still love it. It’s a stick shift, and I hadn’t driven a car since before moving to London, and I haven’t driven a stick since our honeymoon… but when I was in that car it felt like old times. I felt 16 again, even though both me and the car are definitely not as young and fresh as we used to be. Ryan is super kind about my car and says things like, “I see how this was a cool car.” But also, that car is so old it feels rickety and makes some rattly noises when it drives.

I also went on a gorgeous walk with Ryan and my mom. We drove a little ways outside of Farmington and drove toward this path by a river. There were some houses along the path and they wrote semi passive-aggressive notes on the road telling people to be quiet. It was chilly and crisp, but the sky was bright and blue, and the river was lovely. I’m glad we took our walk when we did, because the next day it snowed.

My mom has been talking about visiting a nearby museum called the Hill-Stead and I finally went. The Hill-Stead is a Colonial Revival house designed by a woman called Theodate Pope Riddle and in her will she asked for the house to become a museum. The exterior of the house and the grounds are very pretty, but I expected the tour to be like any other historic house museum tour. I was totally wrong. This place is really special! I’m so mad visitors aren’t allowed to take picture inside – so I hope you can suffice with the pretty snow scenes. Anyway, Theodate’s father was an incredible art collector. In the house there are numerous paintings by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Eduoard Manet and many others. My favorite Degas is called Dancers in Pink. The ballet dancers are wearing these vivid, almost shocking, pink costumes. I feel like it’s rare to see such bright pinks. The house also has two of Claude Monet’s haystacks. Seeing the art at the Hill-Stead was better than seeing it at any museum. It was so intimate! As visitors we could get closer to the paintings and see all the textures and brush strokes. Beyond paintings, there were fancy clocks, Asian pottery, and even some Greek vases.

Ryan and I also popped to New York for a day to meet up with Ryan’s mom and sister. We had a great time walking around the city. I made them go to a lot my old stomping grounds. We went to Chelsea Market and the Donut Pub. We walked passed my old building, I lived somewhere in the yellow-ish part of the building on the top right. We ate pizza at John’s of Bleecker Street, which is Ryan’s favorite. They didn’t have cream soda this time, but the pizza was still good. (You see I can’t stop eating!) We walked to Washington Square Park and looked at NYU and then on to Momofuku Milk Bar (for more eating). We also saw puppies in a shop window. I know, I know, puppies from a shop like that probably come from a puppy mill but they were so damn cute. I definitely squealed “please Ryan please can we have one!” Sigh. We also went to Eataly and passed the Flat Iron Building. I may have eaten a lot, but at least I was walking it off. I spent the last day in Connecticut on the couch subjecting my whole family to a Harry Potter movie marathon (Eric bought me all the DVDs for Christmas, so it is his fault). It was nice and cozy just relaxing with my family. We ended the day by celebrating Three Kings Day. We exchanged presents and ate an amazing seafood lasagna my mom made (yes, even more eating). Overall, I had a lovely week in Connecticut with my family and a great two weeks in the US. But, after a lovely vacation I’m happy to be back in London. I’ll be back next week with more recipes – hopefully nice healthful ones for the New Year.

Deva Curl Light Defining Gel

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One of the things I wanted to eat while in the US was nachos. You might be thinking to yourself, “Mariel, they have to have good nachos somewhere in the UK.” And they probably do, but I was burned – and burned bad. So I’ve only had nachos once in London and didn’t want to risk it again.

Here’s what happened: Ryan and I went to a pub to watch the Arsenal match. We had a few pints and started to feel hungry and we thought, “What kind of bar food do we want? Oh, nachos sounds good!” So we ordered them, not thinking about where we were. Because in the US you can have satisfying nachos pretty much anywhere.

When our plate arrived there were some chips, a smattering of cheese, and big dollops of sour cream and watery salsa. No meat, no beans, no veg, no gooey-ness. I mean, we ate it of course, but I was disappointed. Since then I’ve stuck to homemade nachos.

In Colorado, Katy (my sister-in-law) suggested we make nachos for when we watched the Broncos football game. Boden was our adorable little helper who let us dress him as a football. Isn’t he freaking cute? I made a photo of him the background on my phone and it makes me so happy! Ok but I’m digressing, let’s get back to nachos.

So the thing is, you don’t really need a recipe for nachos because there’s plenty of room for improvisation. We used bison meat which I’d never cooked before this! It’s leaner than beef and has a really delicious flavor. We didn’t add much to it in terms of seasoning, but it was so flavorful!  I know you can get bison meat all over the United States, but being at the edge of Plains and having bison meat somehow felt authentically Colorado. Maybe it’s not authentically Colorado, but that’s how it felt. Anyway, instead of bison, you can use ground beef or turkey, sliced chicken breasts, or beans. In fact, go bigger and make a combo and use both meat and beans!

You can also make nachos really homemade or somewhere in between. We bought jarred salsa but we made guacamole. However, instead of chopping up tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalapenos we bought pre-made pico de gallo. You can find pico de gallo in the refrigerated section on the produce department. Or, if you want to make your own here’s a recipe from the Pioneer Woman. So find your perfect balance and make what you want or buy what you want.

The key to good nachos is layering. Katy’s secret to good nachos is two layers of cheese. First, a layer of chips, then cheese, then meat, then toppings, then cheese, then salsas. Double cheese layers add extra deliciousness and work as a glue to hold all your nachos fillings together. Genius right?

Last thing, Katy is responsible for the beautiful sour cream piping. Those clouds of sour cream are gorgeous! What’s great about nachos is you can make them your own, and so we decided to make them beautiful.(I alternated in the spoonfuls of guac and salsa) But, it needs to be said that I am so impressed with Katy’s piping as I’m terrible with a piping bag. We decided we would be a perfect team in a bakery – I prefer the baking and she prefers the decorating. Win-win baby. Anyway, presentation is important to making tasty food look even more desirable so artfully dollop on your salsas and once you serve people will be dying to dig in.

Messy level: One spoon. Nachos are so easy! For preparation we only needed one skillet and a bowl to make the guacamole. Everything else just gets layers on the main serving platter. Easy and clean – that is until you start eating.

Bison Nachos

 

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A recipe for hearty bison nachos with guacamole. You will have extra guacamole at the end!

Author: Mariel & Katy

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 pound ground bison meat (or substitute ground beef or turkey)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thick matchsticks
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into thick matchsticks
• 2-3 ripe avocados
• 1 cup pico de gallo
• 1 lime, sliced in half
• salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp chili powder
• 1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips (we used Scoops)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (you might not need it all)
• ½ cup salsa
• ½ cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and ground bison. When 75% of the meat is browned add in the bell pepper. I like adding it here to soften the peppers up a bit and give them some more flavor. Remove from the heat once the meat is completely browned. Set to the side.
3. Cut the avocado lengthwise around the pit. Now you'll have the avocado broken apart into two halves.
4. Using a spoon, scoop out the pit and set it aside.
5. Scoop out the avocado flesh into a medium bowl. Using a fork, mash up the avocado until it is smoother but still with some chunks.
6. Add the pico de gallo to the avocado. Mix thoroughly.
7. Add garlic powder, chili powder, and salt (to your taste) to the avocado mixture. Squeeze half the lime in too. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add the other half of the lime if you like it, add more garlic and chili powder if you want more "pop." Now you've got guacamole. Add the avocado pits back in to the guacamole. This keeps it from getting immediately brown.
8. Arrange the tortilla chips onto a large serving tray.
9. Sprinkle half the shredded cheese over the chips.
10. Spoon the ground bison and bell pepper mixture evenly over the cheese.
11. Sprinkle the other half of the cheese over the meat.
12. Put the serving tray in the microwave and heat on high for 1 minute at a time, until the cheese is melted.
13. Artfully dollop the sour cream, salsa, and guacamole evenly on top of the cheese.
14. If you have more cheese left over, sprinkle a little more on top.
15. Serve while hot and gooey!

3.2.2925

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Hope you all have had a lovely Christmas! Ryan and I spent it in Colorado at Aaron and Katy’s house (Ryan’s brother and his wife). It was nice to see them and Ryan’s mom and sister since we hadn’t seen them since right before we moved to London. But, the best part I think for most of us, was getting to meet and play with Boden. He is so cute! He is smiley, good-natured, and wiggly. It was fun to see him do everything – roll over, squirm around, and even grab my hair. I did take a picture of other people besides Boden, but we’re all in our pajamas and I think there was general consensus that we didn’t want that photo public. 

We were lucky enough to have a white Christmas! It started snowing about halfway through the day and we got maybe 3-4 inches. It was really beautiful and at night Ryan, Tia (his sister) and I went for a walk to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Colorado was also cool because we got to see a very different landscape compared to what we’re used to. Colorado has wide open plains and then beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains. It was a real treat.

Since it doesn’t get that cold in London and Ryan and I are non-nature-loving city slickers were weren’t totally prepared for the snow. Ryan had cloth sneakers and dress shoes. I had sneakers and leather boots without tread on the bottom. So, needless to say, we had to borrow boots from Aaron and Katy. I’m glad we did because the day after Christmas we took their dog Tarka on a 3 mile walk to the dog park. It was lovely to see all the snow and to be outside, but it was cold and our regular shoes could not have handled it. The dog park itself was pretty nice, and the picture at the top of this post is the view from the dog park.

In addition to getting to enjoy the outdoors, Aaron and Katy also took  us to enjoy some local restaurants and sites. On Saturday we had brunch with Katy’s parents at the Mercantile in Union Station. The food itself was really good but the service was so weird. You order at a counter in the front of the restaurant, then you sit down and wait for a text. When they text you, you walk 5 feet over to the kitchen window and pick up your food. They come around a little to check on you and see how you’re doing, but they don’t bring refills of drinks or anything. It was odd, but nice. I wish I had taken pictures of Union Station. It’s a train station and it’s been gorgeously redone on the inside. It has a hotel, restaurants, and it has a modern and old look that works for it.

After brunch we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was packed with families taking their kids of after Christmas. It’s a really good museum for kids because there are so many animals and skeletons and I thought most of the label texts were written with young audiences in mind. My favorite part of the exhibit was the section on wales. I learned that whales sound out their sound, then it bounces back, and vibrates into a fat deposit in their forehead. How cool is that? Throughout the museum there were a lot of diorama’s of animals in their “natural habitats.” It’s an old style of exhibitions, but I think it works. What was sort of funny was that every diorama had lots of animal poop – as if that will make me think it’s really authentic. Also, they had a snake on the floor (that was scary looking) and weighed 100 pounds. The sign next to it said it was modeled after a real snake and that with your friends you should see if you can pick it up. Ryan did all by himself, but it looked difficult.

Aaron and Katy also made sure to feed us lots of the American foods we’ve been missing. They took us to Highland Tap and Burger because Ryan had been craving a burger. Prior to this experience I had felt like burgers in London were perfectly good and that I wasn’t missing an American burger. And then I had one bite and everything changed. It was cooked medium-well, it was topped with a fried egg, and it was so juicy.I took a bite and sauce and juices oozed all down my hands. I fell in love. That bite was like snuggling with your favorite blanket. It was like the perfect first kiss. It was like putting on your favorite sweater. That one bite was so satisfying. I downed the rest so fast there wasn’t time to take a picture. I sort of wish I hadn’t had the burger because now I know what I’m missing.

They also took us to the Post to have fried chicken, waffles, and biscuits. My British colleagues keep telling me a biscuit is just like a scone, but it really isn’t. I don’t know how to explain it, but biscuits are more buttery and savory than scones. Even though Post is sort of a nice restaurant, the chicken came out in a bucket – which gave us that real American feel. We went home stuffed. My pictures of all this might not look so amazing, but it was. It was amazing I think for anyone, but all this food was even better after months of being away from it. You know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

Sunday we had a low-key day. Katy and I spent most of the morning having some girl time. We went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for nachos (something else on our American food bucket list, and I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow). We took Tarka to the dog park, and then we went and got a pedicure. It was meant a lot to me to spend some quality time together and just hang out and chat. In the afternoon we all finished a puzzle then went to Ryan’s uncle’s house to watch the Broncos game.

Before we left, we got one more taste of American foods. For breakfast before our flight to Connecticut we had bagels with pumpkin spice cream cheese and coffee with pumpkin spice creamer. Oh America, you are wonderful.

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People, get ready for a little bit of bragging. Last weekend, Ryan and I went to Munich. Ya know, we just popped over to Germany for the weekend as people do. Sound fancy right? But seriously, my Titi Pascale and Uncle Willie were doing a holiday in Europe and asked Ryan and me if we wanted to meet them for part of it. My aunt told me about the Christmas markets and I was all,”we’ll be there.”

In booking the trip, I did have some travel craziness where I felt guilty about spending money on a two day trip. But, Ryan and I moved to London so we could easily travel around Europe, and we were going to see family so it was totally worth it. And let me tell you, Germany was just lovely. Below is a picture of the view as the plane was landing. In the background are mountains (although a bit hazy and hard to see), and then in the foreground perfectly manicured fields and villages. It was so beautiful!

Once we met up with my uncle and aunt, we hit the markets to do some eating. We ate with abandon. We had potato fritters with apple sauce and Titi Pascale had them with some delicious garlic sour cream. We had cookies. We had bratwurst sandwiches. We had beers. We had roasted almonds with Nutella – which were so good we bought a second pack to take with us on the train to the airport. They were so good I’m going to have to look up a recipe. We also had giant pretzels which were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Those were so good we took one on the plane and ate it on our layover in Copenhagen. And every single thing we ate was delicious. Even when we ate at the stand by the tourist-y ice rink, the food was perfection.

One of my favorite markets was Medieval themed. At this market I had a gargantuan glass of wine punch. I don’t totally know everything that was in it, but they poured wine out of the big jug, then splashed rum around on top, added a sugar cube, and then set the whole thing on fire. It was a huge cup and no one wanted to drink it with me (probably because it was so boozy), so I got a little tipsy given that I’d had the giant beer shortly before. I was a little shocked because the wine cost 15€ and I was all, “whoa… but I really want to try it.” But, when I returned the cup I got 10€ back, so then I was really please because I’d pay £5 for a regular glass of wine at a pub. All in all, felt like a good deal.

The city itself was really nice. We saw a man yodeling and we walked through a park and saw a beautiful waterfall and sunset. The whole weekend we had really nice weather. It was a perfect winter day with a nice crisp chill, but we could still have jackets open and hats off.

But what of the things I love most about Christmas time are the decorations. I love Christmas lights – and there were everywhere. They were on lamp posts, on windows, on buildings. The whole city felt really nice and festive. There was a store display window that was decorated in a woodland scene with lots of moving stuffed toys. It was pretty elaborate and cheery.

On Sunday we took the tram to Nymphenburg Palace. Side note, we found German people to be so nice. Someone helped us figure out the tram tickets, and earlier someone else gave us directions – both times unbidden. Anyway, Nymphenburg Palace was really beautiful. In front there is a lake with loads of ducks and swans. They swans were astounding! Really large, plush looking, with perfectly white feathers. We saw a women petting and feeding them. We were just waiting for her to get bitten – but it didn’t happen. The palace itself is an enormous complex.

Inside, was even more astounding. The main room where we entered was two stories tall, with gorgeous chandeliers, and an amazing painted ceiling. Throughout the whole place the ceilings had really detailed and elaborate paintings of mythological figures. Words can’t express how beautiful those paintings are. One, which I didn’t take a picture of, had such incredible perspective that it looked like the figure was standing on a cloud right above you, and that you were underneath her feet. We all stopped to look at one painting  that had a deer hunt (middle in photo below). This painting was huge, maybe 15 feet tall, but at the very bottom center is a large pack of dogs swimming after a fleeing deer. It was a cool painting showing a village and a hunt, but I thought it was curious that the main action was in such a tiny portion of the whole.

After we toured the palace, we checked out the carriages and sleighs exhibit. I didn’t have huge expectations, but I left blown away. The carriages were more ornate and beautiful than I have the ability to convey with words. There were nymphs holding torchs, there were geese squawking, there were gods blowing horns, and there we suns on hubcaps. Every since surface glittered and shone.

Some of the sleighs had built in ermine blankets and thick slippers for foot holds. These were truly amazing ways to show off the wealth and power of the monarchs. I felt bad for the poor horses who would have had to carry all this weight. One of the coolest sleighs (above) was of Hercules killing the Hydra. The hydra itself was made from one single hollowed out tree!

I left Munich glowing. I was well fed, I had seen some beautiful things, and I had spent some wonderful time with my family, and I was filled with the Christmas spirit. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it was true. I was sad to leave. I had so much fun with my family, and it was nice to be with people that I felt so comfortable with it. It was such a pleasure to just have some food and hang out. It made me more excited for when Ryan and I go back to the US next week! Anyway, Munich was delightful and now I want to drink a beer and make some soft pretzels, even though it won’t be the same, so I can hold on to this weekend feeling a little bit longer.

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My mom and Ryan’s mom organized a going away party for us this weekend. It was wonderful to be surrounded by many of our family and friends. I felt so loved and was really touched that people made the trip out to send us off. And I liked having so many different groups of people together. I felt warm and fuzzy, but I also got a bit weepy. With so many people supporting and encouraging us, what can’t we accomplish, even if we are far away? But, being far away… I will miss so many things and so many people. So I cried a bit. But not too much.

The party itself was lovely. My mom got us the most BEAUTIFUL cake. She ordered it from Samantha of Sweet Eats Cakes. My family is a little obsessed with her. Samantha made Ryan and my wedding cake, and in total, to this day, she’s made us five cakes. We love Samantha because her pricing is affordable, she is so flexible and easy to contact, and most importantly her cake is so delicious. Each slice of incredibly moist cake has four layers, which means tons of cake and more space for frosting. She makes great fruit purees and a chocolate ganache. What blows my mind is her butter cream! The frosting is light in texture but so deeply infused with flavor. Oh man, Ryan and I will miss her cakes.  Below is my Sweet Eats Cakes photo collage. 

Our going away party cake had three tiers. The bottom tier was decorated to look like Hershey, Ryan’s home town. The second tier was Baltimore, my home town. And the third tier was London, our future home town. The cake was so intricate with recognizable buildings from each city’s skyline. Even better, each tier was a different flavor! There was chocolate and hazelnut, yellow cake with oreo butter cream, and yellow cake with lemon butter cream and raspberry puree.  I made sure to eat all three flavors.

Ryan and I also walked away from the party with a great haul of gifts to remind us of home and get us ready for London. We got Nationals and Ravens gear, cookbooks, and guidebooks. We also got a ton of snack food. A picture of our snack mountain is below. Did you know there’s no peanut butter in London? Or marshmallows? Or graham crackers? That’s according to the internet, so I don’t know for sure. But I have a hard time believing that the country of London lives without smores. How could that be?

I’m not sure, but I’ll be sure to scour the grocery stores and once I’m there and let you know. And so the countdown begins. 5 days for Ryan, and a little less than 2 weeks for me. England here we come!

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Happy Three Kings Day! If you’re not familiar with Three Kings Day, it’s also called the Epiphany and you can read about it here. To summarize though, Three Kings Day is the 12th day of Christmas and it’s when the three kings (or wise men) found Jesus and brought him the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It’s a holiday celebrated by lots of different cultures, especially in Latin America.

To celebrate this year, I decided to have a dinner party for 10 people in our tiny apartment. I invited three of my former coworkers, their significant others, my parents, and my brother. It was a tight fit (Charlotte and Craig had to bring chairs and a table), it was a little hot (I had to open the sliding door), and we used every single dish we own – but it was a blast and I’m so glad to have thrown a little party to catch up with friends and family.

And boy did we cook up a storm! In truth, Ryan and my mom did most of the fancy cooking. Together we made sangria, coquito (a coconut drink I’ll post about later), green beans, arroz con gandules, a beautiful  beef tenderloin, cheesecake, and of course, flan. It was a big meal and pretty delicious. Most importantly, it was fun. It was wonderful having my friends together, and laughing, and chatting. It was a wonderful way to start the new year and celebrate the holiday.

My only regret, is that I took very few pictures. Sigh. I had fancy napkins, red and green place mats, a pretty Christmas tree, and gorgeous food. Seriously, Ryan made a beautiful 5.5 pound beef tenderloin and it was so tender and lovely. The only picture I have is when you see it on the table in the group shot, and the picture I took of my plate when I was 90% finished eating. I wish I had more photos of everything and everyone.

For today’s post, I wanted to highlight my mom’s flan.  If you’re not familiar with flan, it’s similar in flavor to a creme brulee but instead of a hard sugar topping, it has a gooey caramel topping. It’s a custard that’s sweet, silky, and a bit jiggly. In my mind, this is one of those “magic” recipes that seems hard to figure out. In part this is because her recipe is a stained and ripped piece of paper, there aren’t any instructions, and it is just a list of ingredients and their respective portions.

I also think it’s hard because in middle school my friend Lisa and I made one for Spanish class and we burnt it and didn’t even know it until we tasted it. But, upon watching my mom make this recipe, I’ve decided it is really about patience and confidence. You have to trust your eye and you can’t rush because this takes hours to make well.

Anyway, the work is worth it because it was a big hit. My friend Ashley was skeptical that she would like it, but then after a bite she let out a gleeful, “Ooo, I like flan!” And Craig was the “flan man” and served everyone’s portion with gusto. There was none left at the end of the night. So, I know that holidays are over and you might not have much use for another dessert recipe, but I think you should consider giving this one a try. It will change what you think about flan.

Note: Scroll all the way down for printer friendly, more condensed recipe without photos. 

Ingredients:

Double boiler

4 eggs

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup milk (you can use any kind of milk as long as it’s cow’s milk, soy milk does not work)

12oz can evaporated milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Fill the bottom of the double boiler with water. You want the water to be just at the level of the bottom of top of the double boiler (when the two pieces are fitted together). You don’t want the water to be too high, otherwise when you’re cooking steam can get trapped in the flan and ruin it. Heat the water on medium until it comes to a gentle boil.

2. In blender, mix the eggs, sugar (1 cup+1 tbsp), vanilla, evaporated milk, and milk.

3. On another burner, heat 4 tbsp of sugar in the top of the double boiler. This is how you’re making the caramel topping.

4. Stir the sugar regularly. You don’t have to stir it constantly and aggressively, but you need to stir it regularly so it doesn’t burn. Watch the sugar carefully, if it bubbles then you’ll need to start over. Ultimately you want to make a caramel that is light golden brown, not dark. This process can take about 20 minutes. I tell you this so you don’t worry if it’s taking a long time, but don’t wait 20 minutes if the caramel is looking pretty earlier.

4a. So, as you’re stirring, the sugar will start to get clumpy. Use your spoon to squish the clumps. Then it will start to turn light brown. Then it will glisten and liquefy. It will smell like a candy apple. If you feel it’s going too fast, lower the heat. Or, remove it from the heat, stir, and then put it back on the burner. Ultimately you will have a  gorgeous caramel sauce. It’s done when it’s beautiful brown and a dragging spoon leaves a trail behind it.  How the sugar transforms is amazing. Cooking and science are amazing.

5. When it’s done, take the caramel off the heat. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken.

6. Pulse the custard mixture you have in the blender just to mix it up again.

7. Scoop 1/4 cup of the custard mixture. Put the cup against the side of the double boiler, and slowly, slowly pour the custard on top of the caramel. It will slowly seep out of the cup, down the side, and cover the caramel. Do this again for a second and third time. You’re doing this so that the caramel stays a topping and doesn’t leak into the custard layer.

8. After the second and third time, you can poor a little more quickly. But, still pour it gently against the side of the bowl. Don’t just plop it on!

9. Put the top of the double boiler on top of the bottom of the double boiler (over the bubbling water). If the water starts to bubble too fast, then lower the heat. The middle picture is bubbling too fast, the third picture is slower and gentler.

10. Let it cook until the custard sets and doesn’t wiggle much. To check this you remove the lid of the double boiler, and shake it gently. To get to the finished product takes a LONG time. About 1.5- 3 hours, but maybe more. As you cook, the water will evaporate. When it gets to 1/2 inch of water, add some more hot water and keep cooking.

11. Let cool for one hour.

12. Put it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

13. Take a pie plate. Put it over the flan and quickly and smoothly flip it. The flan will drop out onto the pie plate and be ready to serve. Take a spoon and scoop out any caramel left in the double boiler. Spoon that over the flan.

14. Serve and enjoy!

Messy level: This isn’t too crazy messy, but I think it deserves a three spoon rating. You have to use a blender, double boiler, and pie plate, so there’s a lot of dishes in the end. What’s good though, is that you have lots of time between steps so you can clean as you go and you aren’t left with a big pile at the end.

Flan

 

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Prep time

1 hour 30 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

4 hours 30 mins

 

Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

Custard

• 4 eggs
• ½ cup + 1 tablespoon/ 112 grams sugar
• ½ cup/ 120 ml whole milk (any cow's milk will work, soy won't!)
• 12oz/ 340 gram can evaporated milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Caramel

• 4 tbsp/ 50 grams sugar

Instructions

1. Fill the bottom of the double boiler with water. You want the water to be just at the level of the bottom of top of the double boiler (when the two pieces are fitted together). Heat the water on medium until it comes to a gentle boil. Let it gently boil while you do other steps.
2. In a blender combine the eggs, sugar, milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. On another burner over low heat, heat the 4 tablespoons of sugar (for the caramel) in the top of the double boiler. Stir constantly!
4. Watch the sugar carefully so it does not come to a boil. The sugar will turn from white granules, to small rocks, to smooth liquid. When you have only 1-2 small tiny clumps but mostly liquid remove the heat. Continue stirring for another 30-60 second until you feel it thicken slightly and a spoon dragged through will leave a bit of trail.
5. Quickly re-blend the custard in the blender.
6. Using a ¼ measuring cup, fill it with custard. Press the cup against the side of your double boiler that has the caramel. Slowly pour the custard over the caramel. Going this slow means the custard will sit atop the caramel and not mix in.
7. Once the caramel is totally covered in a layer of custard you can start to pour faster. You can either continue with the measuring cup or you can lean the lip of the blender on the edge of the double boiler and slowly pour. Whatever you do, don't just plop the custard on!
8. Once the custard as been completely added, put the top of the boiler over the bottom with the boiling water. Cover with the lid.
9. Watch the water. If it's bubbling too fast lower the heat. You want it to be a continuous boil but not aggressive and bopping.
10. Cook until the flan wobbles slightly (like jello) when you gently shake the pan. This can take between 1.5 and 3 hours. Depends on the amount of water you have and how high the heat is. Check on the flan every 30-45 minutes. Check it by gently shaking the pan to test the wobble. Check it also by making sure you have at least ½ inch of water.
11. When finished cooking, remove the lid and the bottom of the double boiler. Let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature. Wipe the lid dry so condensation won't ruin the flan.
12. Cover the flan with the lid and put in the fridge for at least one hour, but ideally until you're ready to serve.
13. Remove the lid, put a plate or pie plate over the double boiler. Holding them both firmly, quickly flip the double boiler over so the flan will fall out onto the plate.
14. Spoon out any caramel left behind in the double boiler.
15. Slice and serve

3.5.3208

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And she’d look at me, in the smug way parents do when they know better, and she’d say, “yeah, I said the same thing to my mom when I was a kid.”

But then, the other day I had a craving for that very sandwich.

It’s definitely a sign of getting older when you realize you’re like your parents. I mean I’m not exactly like my parents but it’s sort of weird to notice the habits I have because of them. Both my brother and I hoard napkins in the glove compartment of our cars just like our father does. Because you just never know when you’ll need a ton of napkins while driving.  And I see my parents sometimes in the way I say a word, or the way my brother makes a gesture. As I’m saying something or doing something, I get this wave over me of, “whoa, that’s Mom.” or “whoa, that’s Papa.”

Photo by Marcella Treybig Photography

It’s not a bad thing, it’s just surprising to realize. And in fact, it’s comforting knowing I have my family with me even when they are far away. And I’m lucky to be like my parents, and especially like my mom. She’s freaking awesome. She recently won Scientist of the Year from HENAAC, which is super impressive and cool. And in general, she’s always been so loving and energetic and encouraging of everything I do. The picture I’ve posted of her is from my wedding. It’s my favorite.

Now, I’m sure my mom would rather I honor her with a splashier recipe, because she makes excellent apple pie and also a chocolate chip cheesecake. But this is the recipe that is just my mom’s and no one else’s.

Mom’s sandwich is well-known between Papa, Eric, and me because of the unusual combination of ingredients – cinnamon raisin bread, raspberry jam, and cheddar cheese. Yes, I know it sounds off-putting, but somehow it works. Toasted bread provides a light crunch, the jam is sweet and tangy, and the cheese is sharp and creamy. Surprisingly, the flavors meld together and it becomes a very satisfying breakfast. When I told Ryan about it, he wrinkled his nose a bit and gave me a look that said, “are you sure that tastes good?” And I can’t blame him for thinking that.

So it’s tradition. My grandmother weirded out my mom, my mom weirded out me, and I intend to weird out future generations, who will then ultimately crave the sandwich themselves.

Ingredients:

2 slices cinnamon raisin toast

Raspberry Jam

Sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Toast the bread to your liking. (I like a light toast, and also my bread was too tall for the toaster).

2. Slather one side of each piece of bread with the raspberry jam. Put on as much or as little jam as you like.

3. Cut big hunks of cheese and put them on top of the jam on one of the slices of bread. My mom recommends using huge hunks of cheese. Don’t skimp on this step!

4. Put the other piece of bread on top, jam side down. Cut in half. Eat it and be surprised.

Messy level:

This is the least messy thing I’ve ever posted about.  At least I think so. You can make this in 3 minutes and clean up so easily. It’s awesome and filling, and that’s sometimes hard to do at breakfast time.

The post Annabelle’s Breakfast Sandwich appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

However, since grilling is such a big part of this holiday I wanted to share with you some hilarious pictures my mom sent me. As you might know, I have a great love for pig-themed kitchen gear. Last week, she and my brother were shopping and found this pig shaped grill. Yes, that’s right, it’s a pig shaped grill. I like the picture on the right, where you can see my brother looking “under the hood” as if maybe he’d really consider buying such a grill.

Anyway, regardless of what kind of grill you have, or where you cook your food, I wish you and yours a very happy Independence Day.

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