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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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

 

Print

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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