Cafe Lalo

What does Meg Ryan, AOL, and my apartment all have in common?  Cafe Lalo.  I was exploring my neighborhood a couple of Sundays ago in search of a cappuccino and tasty pastry when I happened upon this quaint cafe.  Upon further inspection, ends up this cafe is an iconic location due to its feature in the 1998 classic romantic comedy You've Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.  Besides this neat cinematic trivia tidbit, Cafe Lalo scored major bonus points with me when I learned that they give complimentary mini Toblerones with each cafe drink purchased.  Needless to say it is my current ambition to become a regular.  Be warned, however, that if you intend to stay in dine that you will have to endure the test and patience of some major lines.

 

Butternut Squash Soup

One day I was feeling particularly ambitious, and decided that it was time to move away from online cooking and to tackle a cook book.  Having a particular weakness for French food (courtesy of having taken French all my life) my favorite cookbook is French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano.  It's a great way to eat healthy without compromising taste.  Also, I learned that the easiest way to cut butternut squash is to cook it in the oven first to soften the tougher outer skin.  

Ingredients

-1 medium (2 to 2 1/2 pounds) butternut squash, peeled, halfved, seeds and strings discarded

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 tablespoons unsalted butter

-1 large white onion, roughly chopped

-2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

-1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

-3 sprigs fresh thyme 

-3 fresh sage leaves plus additional for garnish (I used Dalmatian dried sage leaves and left in the soup instead, and it still tasted delicious)

-3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

-1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

-4 to 5 cups chicken broth

-Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

-Cut the butternut squash into one-inch pieces and set aside (trust me, if you don't heat it up in the oven-like I did-it will take you forever to cut through the skin).

-In a large pot, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and garlic and saute until fragrant and softened, about four minutes.

-Add the nutmeg, thyme, and sage and cook for another minute, stirring.

-Add the squash, carrots, apple, and four cups of chicken broth.

-Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cover.

-Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

-Remove the thyme sprigs and sage leaves (I did not since I did not-opting instead to leave the ingredients in since I did not use sprigs and leaves, but rather dried thyme and sage) from the soup and carefully transfer the mixture to a blender or a food mill and puree until smooth.

-If a thinner consistency is desired, add the remaining one cup chicken broth.  Season (with salt and pepper) to taste and serve hot. 

Grown-up Grilled Cheese

It has been my constant goal in life to never grow-up (in fact, I am still trying to figure out what exactly it is I want to do with my life, and some days don't feel any closer than when I was determined to be a fire fighter).  Despite the fact that I have a 9-5 job, pay rent, do my own laundry, buy my own groceries, cook my own meals, and will eventually pay taxes, there are just some days where the nostalgia for my childhood is too overwhelming.  A couple of weekends ago, when we had the crazy snowstorm weather, I could think of nothing else than cozying up in my apartment with a bowl of tomato soup and grilled cheese (one of my childhood favorites).  Despite my immaturity, I have developed some more refined tastes relative to when I was eight years old.  Consequently, I combined gouda and feta cheese, substituting it for the packaged Kraft American cheese, and then added a slice of herb infused turkey breast, and then grilled it up to go along with my microwaveable Campbell's tomato soup.  It was delicious, and hit the spot.  The only thing missing was goldfish for my soup!

 

Stuffed Peppers

I officially took my first step into cooking adventures with this recipe (http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/stuffed-peppers/63e29e18-903e-467c-aec5-fba4ce3a138f).  After seeing a woman at work warming up stuffed peppers for lunch one day, I was overcome by this inexplicable craving for stuffed peppers.  It was surprisingly easy, and were even delicious warmed up as left overs!

 

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

They've always said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  If that is the case, then forget signing up for eHarmony, and bake a dozen of these and wait for Mr. Perfect to come knocking at your door.  Only, if you're going to try to bake all 24 at the same time, make sure to bake all 24 on the top shelf, rather than trying to split 12 on the top and 12 on the bottom-like I did.  Half of mine-the ones on the bottom shelf-got burned because they were too close to the heat.

INGREDIENTS

- 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

-1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

-4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon kosher salt

-2 cups buttermilk, shaken

-1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

-1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

-2 extra-large eggs

-2 cups fresh blueberries (2 half-pints--for me I had to buy three small plastic cartons)

For the streusel topping

-3/4 cup all-purpose flour

-1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

-4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced 

DIRECTIONS

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-Line muffin tins with paper liners

-Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and blend with your hands

-In a separate bowl, wisk together the buttermilk, butter, lemon zest, and eggs

-Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a fork, mixing just until blended (also-I learned that you have to check that everything gets mixed in at the bottom of the bowl, otherwise you will get a dry batter)

-Fold the blueberries into the batter.  Don't overmix!

-Use an ice-cream scoop to put the batter into the paper liners, filling them almost full

For the topping

-Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the butter is in very small pieces

-Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until crumbly

-Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the streusel on top of each muffin

-Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown

It's the simple things in life...

Over the course of my 22 years I have discovered that it is the simple things in life that have made me the happiest, a silly voicemail, the scent of my mom's Christmas french toast wafting through the air, my dogs wagging their tales when I get home, and listening to my first CD (The Beatles/1962-1966).  Here a a couple of examples of things that have made me happy this week.

A bowl of acorns from Ohio

A Valentino wool jacket perfect for the fall chill

My leather jacket that I bought senior year of high school on a trip to Italy-it goes with absolutely everything

A homemade thank you card that I received

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Ever since I can remember Halloween has been may favorite holiday (even more so than Christmas).  Finally, after four years I was able to rejoin in the festivities (although this year I lacked a costume).  Among the highlights of my week-and-a-half long extravaganza include carving a jack-o-lantern, watching all the creative and outrageous costumes in the 39th Annual Halloween Parade in the West Village on October 31st, and seeing the fashion-conscious city of New York get decked out for this usually low-key holiday.

It only seemed to be appropriate to do a Princeton crest

A trick-or-treater dressed up as a thief

A restaurant on 7th Ave. between 57th and 58th Street

Pumpkin Head

The theme of the Village Parade was "Eye of the Beholder"