A VALENTINE'S RETREAT

Last year a bunch of us - singles, couples, all good friends - decided to go away for Valentine's weekend. We retreated to Orcas Island, just a quick drive and ferry ride away from Seattle. The house in the woods was the perfect spot for cooking great meals (including the above butternut squash galette via Design*Sponge), vino, Apples-to-Apples games and a puzzle or two. 


We also went on a crazy-and-amazing tour/adventure of the Lambiel Museum - a private collection of Orcas Island artists (from fine art to folk), Oriental rugs, antique grandfather clocks and more. The experience is pretty indescribable, but we say it's a must-see if you ever find yourself on Orcas island. 


For a festive brunch we made special heart-shaped pancakes and then rushed-off to the ferry line. If you ask us, it was the perfect way to spend a holiday. Truly lovely. 


And that's what Valentine's is all about, right?


We die over these pancakes and are sure that anyone you ever make them for will know that they're truly loved.

LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES WITH RASPBERRIES AND LEMON CURD*

Ingredients

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. salt

2 T. sugar

1 c. ricotta cheese

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Butter, for griddle

1 jar prepared lemon curd

Fresh raspberries, for topping

Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Directions

Preheat a nonstick griddle or skillet.

Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the cheese, eggs, milk, lemon juice and zest in a large bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined (don’t over mix).

Brush the hot griddle with butter. For each pancake, pour approximately 1/4 cup measure of the batter on the griddle and cook on both sides until light golden brown. Repeat. We kept batches warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Empty the contents of the lemon curd into a small saucepan and warm over low heat (we just used the “double boiler method” and put the whole jar in a sauce pan with a few inches of water – cleaner!).

Drizzle a few tablespoons of the curd over the pancakes and top with fresh raspberries. And, if you want to go all-out, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

*Adapted from Bobby Flay (if you can believe it!)

SOUPAPALOOZA

Last week we were oh-so-not-tactfully reminded that "no one wants to be alone during the holidays." 

Right.

Our dating life has been a bit sparse lately. So, in an effort to stave-off being alone - and mostly because a bunch of friends were in town and we've been wanting to host a soup party for years - we made a big pot of soup and invited the masses.

We also made amazing savory cookies (cheddar and jalapeno, yes please) from Design*Sponge, man we love those recipes!

The kiddo-guests were hilarious. Lots of hugs, kisses and catching up. People brought bread (and even homemade onion focaccia, yum), wine and a special dessert. It was a blast.

We love our friends and family. Happy (almost) New Year! 

What do you have planned for 2011?

RED LENTIL SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK & SPICED BUTTER*

Serves 4

3/4 t ground cumin

3/4 t curry powder

1/2 t fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1/4 t dried thyme, crushed

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1 T vegetable oil

1 1/2 c finely chopped yellow onion

3/4 c finely chopped carrot

1 medium clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 jalapenos (we've also used 1 Anaheim chili), seeded and minced

2 t finely grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 c red lentils, rinsed

1 can (14.5 oz) vegetable broth

3 1/2 c water

1 c unsweetened coconut milk (we used light)

1 t kosher salt

1/4 t black pepper

3 T fresh lime juice

2 T cilantro, chopped

2 T butter (or butter substitute if you want to do vegan)

1. In a small bowl combine cumin, curry, fennel, thyme and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. In a soup pot, heat oil over medium-low heat. Saute the onion about 4 minutes. Stir in carrot and saute about 3 minutes. Add garlic, jalapeno and ginger, saute 2 minutes. 

3. Add lentils, broth and water. Stir in 3/4 t of the spice mixture. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes (be careful that stuff doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn). The lentils should be soft and falling apart.

4. Remove from heat. Cool about 10 minutes. Stir in the  coconut milk, salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro.

5. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the remaining spice mixture. Cook 1 minute. Stir into soup and serve.

*Recipe via our mom but originally from the Seattle Times, we think.

REFRESHING

We admit that we're obsessed with design - lately it's been focused on fashion styling and home decor. Sneak Peeks on Design*Sponge are a particular fave.


We spent months and months going over the archive peeks and now check every Monday religiously for new ones. It's so hard to pick one, but we love love love the two homes of Michelle Michael and her husband. Simple and functional, fun color, a mix of thrifted and high-end, ooh la la! And really, it's no surprise because we own a very dog-eared copy of Michael's "The New Apartment Book."

After recently repainting our apartment we tackled long-talked about updates including:

• Hanging new curtain rods
• Hanging poster display system to show off our collection
• Making curtains with cool fabric we found at Ikea

And the next day we made banana crunch muffins (via Barefoot Contessa) and changed our headlight. We were feeling so handy until we electrocuted ourselves when replacing a light switch cover (the easiest-seeming thing on our To-Do list). Whoops!

Our fantasy is that one day we might be cool enough to be featured in a Sneak Peek (hey, a girl can dream). But in the meantime we'll be satisfied with sharing with you.


And, this spring we refurbished an old, ugly Ikea TV cabinet into a small bar. Before:

Adding the clear casters was the final touch. After:

 Most of the posters, but not all, are by Beautiful Angle. Some bought, some found on telephone poles.

BOO!

Sometimes a party sneaks up on us, sometimes we spend weeks planning. Tonight, it's a little bit of both.


First things first, it's Halloween Eve (is there such a thing?) and our dilemma is always - what to be? We considered Frida Kahlo and Miss Piggy before settling on the seemingly easy, inexpensive and not-that-exciting black cat. And then we went over to our dear friend Spuntina's house this week - she and L were doing crafts, we were doing a test run of our makeup. And it was a disaster. We hated everything about our costume. Plus, the girls made these totally amazing masks that really made us feel lame.


And then we decided to copy (ahem, get inspired) and make a mask of our own. Delicious black glitter, long black ribbon...we're cat-tastic!

We're having people over tonight for a funk-fest before going out. Or, maybe it'll be so much fun we'll just stay in. Of course, that means Halloween-decor, good food and drink. We scored a cheap table runner at Pier 1 and decided to make paper bag jack-o-lanterns. And we wanted to buy a bunch of black helium balloons with black ribbon and let them float up to cover the ceiling but we ran out of time. Next year.


A FALL MENU
Rosemary Almonds*
Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Pizza (we blogged about this in April)
Steve's Mom's Brownies (recipe here)

*Rosemary Almonds (adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Paris)
This is seriously the best-ever cocktail party snack. It's made us the most popular girl on several occasions!


1 lb roasted, unsalted almonds
2 t minced fresh rosemary leaves (OK, we admit we pick this from the neighboring condo's landscaping)
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 t light brown sugar
1 T kosher salt (we generally use less)
1 T unsalted butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on cookie sheet and toast in oven until warm (about 5 minutes). In large bowl combine rosemary, cayenne pepper, sugar and salt with melted butter. Toss toasted almonds in spiced butter until coated. Serve warm or later. Yum!

A PICNIC

Nice weather and a friend's birthday inspired a simple picnic to celebrate. We tried to do-it-up-in-style for the occasion.


A mix of homemade and choice store-bought elements plus monogrammed takeout containers* and a festive oilcloth made this easy to pull together, but still special.


THE MENU
Green salad with Girard's Light Champagne Vinaigrette
Pesto with pasta, potatoes and peas
Steve's Mom's Brownies (adapted from an ex boyfriend's mom's amazing recipe, see below)
Dry Soda (our favorite local, delicious and low-cal non-alcoholic beverage)

STEVE'S MOMS' BROWNIES
Melt together, stirring a few times:

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 sticks unsalted butter

In a large, separate bowl, beat together:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

After the chocolate mixture has cooled a bit, add it to the eggs and sugar mixture. Then, stir in:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Optional: Stir in 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (our fave).

Heat oven to 325. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until knife/toothpick comes out clean. Cool and eat.

Yum.

*We just asked our neighborhood restaurant for a few takeout containers and they were gracious enough to give them to us, but we think you can buy at Cash & Carry. 

PIZZA PIE

Another kind of pie we're obsessed with is the pizza kind. We especially love putting "weird" things on pizza and calling it fabulous. Awhile back we were inspired by InStyle and Aida Mollenkamp ("Food Network's rising star," apparently) to have our very own pizza party with one of our favorite people and fellow blogger, Saltina.


(Saltina takes the most lovely, thoughtful photos. Check out: myphoneograpy. Really, you'll love them.)

And today, we're thrilled to do a co-post. Here for the recipes. There for more photos. Join us.

Note: We used one package of Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough, divided and made one of each of the pizzas below. Recipes are for two small pizzas each, so you might want to halve the ingredients. Although we believe that pizza is very forgiving and don't worry about measuring (maybe that's why we love it).

POTATO, ARGULA, PECORINO AND MOZZARELLA

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

2 T grated pecorino cheese (we think Parmesan would work, too)

1/4 lb. mozzarella, sliced

1 small (about 1/4 lb.) cooked potato thinly sliced (we sliced, then cooked)

4 T olive oil

2 cups baby arugula

Preheat oven to 450. Drizzle 1 T olive oil over cookie sheet (or, you could use a pizza pan or pizza stone if you're feeling fancy). Prepare dough (to us that means rolling out as thin as possible, we don't worry about the shape, as long as it fits on the pan). Sprinkle garlic, pecorino, mozzarella and potato slices onto rolled out dough. Drizzle 1 T olive oil over pizza. Pierce dough with a fork several times. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until crust is crispy. Remove and top with fresh arugula.

BLUE CHEESE AND ROASTED SQUASH

1/2 cup diced butternut squash*

1/4 cup diced onion

5 T olive oil

1 t salt

1/4 t ground pepper

2 T grated pecorino cheese

4 T crumbled blue cheese

In large bowl, toss squash and onion with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 until tender (about 20 minutes, but depends on how small you dice 'em), set aside. Preheat oven and prep pan/dough as above. Sprinkle pecorino onto dough. Spoon the veggies evenly over dough. Sprinkle pizza with blue cheese and 1 T olive oil. Pierce dough with fork several times. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until crust is crispy.


*We diced up all the butternut squash and threw small batches into individual ziplock bags and froze them for future pizza parties. Easy!

If you're feeling extra fancy make the Orange & Lillet Cocktail that Aida recommended. 

Thanks to InStyle, October 2009 for recipes and inspiration.

CUTIE PIE

Our mom makes the most amazing pies. Our grandmother made the most amazing pies. So do our aunts. Even our sister is making pretty damn good pies. So, obviously we're both spoiled and intimidated by the lady-pie-bakers in our family. Why would we ever even try? But we want to. We're drawn to pies (not just the eating of them, the process!).

We stumble upon this recipe (and lovely photography) via Sunday Suppers. We had a crush. So, on a blustery, dark winter evening on Orcas Island we decided to make a butternut squash gallet for our friends, figuring we would ease into this pie-making business. (A gallet is free-form and "rustic." Perfect for our first attempt at pie making.) Unfortunately, we found out it wasn't pomegranate season. So we modified with pears. We even did it like our grandmother would have, without an electric mixer. Just mucho elbow grease. It was delicious. We may be pie-bakers after all.

Next time we will try cranberries instead of pears. Unless we can find pomegranates at the market.

MAKING OUR OWN LIVES

Being big believers in creating our own reality and tired of the ugly, gray winter weather, Supper Club went with a sunny island theme. We signed up for dessert and made this recipe for carmel corn with salted peanuts with macadamia nuts instead of peanuts (to be more island-y). The result, delicious!

And, it just occurred to us that we could have added coconut to push the tropics even more. Mmmmm...