the constant hunger

Salted Caramel Pie

After months of trying to convince my husband to cancel our home phone and cable, he finally agreed. We spent the better part of the weekend upgrading our home entertainment scheme. This included my husband getting on the phone to our service provider and canceling the useless services and hooking us up with an even faster speed Internet, the only service we actually use. This also meant making a quick trip to Best Buy. Anyone's boyfriend or husband ever made a "quick trip" to an electronics store? It's never "quick" and it's certainly always breaks the bank. But in the end, I guess it was worth it.

Some people may be wondering why anyone would cancel their cable and phone services. The phone was no biggie. It was a service we hardly used. We'll do fine with our cell phones and Skype. The cable, on the other hand, was a contentious issue at our house. To be honest we barely watch cable television. Between my husband watching hockey games online and myself streaming my old movies through Netflix (and re-runs of Mad Men!), I felt it was ridiculous to be spending $200 a month for services we never used. Besides Netflix (streaming service only since I recently canceled the at-home service. I hate price increases without service upgrades), I also signed up for Hulu Plus. All the major network shows available, as well as a bunch of cooking shows I had never even heard of. Plus the Criterion Collection. Need I say more?

Anyone else recently canceled their cable service? And what do you think?

Enough with the techno talk, she says after two paragraphs. During all of this technological advancement, I actually had time to read through my Food & Wine. I came across a lovely article on pies and decided to make this one. The recipe, although a little time-consuming, is simple and uses just a few ingredients. If you're planning on serving this for dessert after dinner, I would suggest preparing it in the morning. It takes about 2 hours to cook the caramel and about 4 hours of chilling the pie in the fridge.

The result is rich, sweet and delicious. If you're a fan of caramel (like me!), this recipe will not let you down.

Happy cooking!

La Bergamote

I'd been listening to the soundtrack of Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain all week long and reading and re-reading my most favorite blog ever. Composed by Yann Tiersen, the soundtrack of Amélie adds even more charm to this little jewel of a movie. I can watch this film anytime, anywhere. And that's exactly what I decided to do this weekend. 

Being in a French state of mind, I decided the only thing that would make watching Amélie even better would be if I was snacking on something delicious, something sweet and French. I headed over to La Bergamote. It was my first time going to this particular patisserie so I decided to sample a few desserts. Here were my picks:

 {tartelette aux fraises}

 

{framboisier}

 

{bergamotier}

 

{bergamote citron}

Amélie and French patisseries. Sometimes a girl needs to indulge. 

Classic Banana Bread

Confession. Over the cold winter months I've gained a few pounds and I'm not feeling so hot. I have a very healthy attitude towards my weight, heck, I don't even own a scale! But I tried on a pair on shorts yesterday and they were a little snug. Not cool! 

Last summer my husband and I ate a lot of salads and grilled meats and vegetables, not only for health reasons, but with the hot and humid weather, it was the only way to eat. I will definitely make two of my favorite recipes again, found here and here, but I spent a couple of hours yesterday researching new ones. I can't wait to share them with you. 

Not only do I plan on eating lighter and loading up on vegetables and fruits mainly, but I want to re-incorporate exercise into my life. Now let's get something straight here. I hate exercising. The idea of running or going to the gym a few times a week fills me with dread. I can't think of anything more mind-numbingly boring than running on a treadmill. It's no secret that the only way anyone will ever stick to an exercise plan is if they're doing something they absolutely love. For me, it's always been about two things: dance and yoga. I used to be pretty intense about my yoga practice but stopped going when I moved too far from the studio. Then I just got lazy. But needing to fit into my shorts again, I've tracked down a spot close to my house and it's pretty affordable. The dance classes will follow as soon as the yoga has limbered me up again. 

Now despite all my attempts towards shedding a few (just a few!) pounds, I still have a sweet tooth. I simply cannot deny myself the pleasure of eating a little dessert after dinner. One recipe that is both healthy and satisfying is a classic banana bread. I love banana in my desserts. I can never seem to eat them fast enough before they get over-ripe. This is the perfect way to use them and not throw them away. I used this recipe here. It has only about 4 grams of fat per serving and a little over 180 calories. It's great as a midday snack or, like me, you can enjoy it as dessert. 

Happy cooking!  

Banana Cupcakes

So it was a rather eventful weekend at our house. I tried my hand at baking again after a couple of successful attempts at making cookies, seen here and here. This time I would try something a little out of my comfort zone...a cake. Well, actually I decided to make cupcakes because I had cupcake molds.

I was inspired by an article in the May issue of Real Simple. Though the spread was inspiring, I was amazed at the amount of butter used in the recipes (four sticks of butter to make frosting???). Perhaps I was naive to think that I could make cupcakes and frosting and not use so much butter, but when I read the nutritional information for a serving of yellow cake with vanilla frosting (785 calories, 49g fat) I knew I had to rethink my strategy. Not only was I going to bake, which was a challenge in and of itself, but I was going to bake healthy desserts. 

So here's the thing. I am not a big fan of chocolate desserts. Don't get me wrong, I will eat ANY dessert you put in front of me, and I mean ANY dessert. But do I order chocolate cake at a restaurant or choose something chocolaty at a bake shop? Never. It's kinda strange since I can eat toast and Nutella for breakfast EVERY morning and never get sick of the stuff. When it comes time to choose dessert, I usually go with something that includes banana, lemon or caramel. Since not too many people like lemon-flavored desserts (like my husband) and I was not about to make caramel from scratch (another challenge, another day) I decided to go with a banana cupcake with a simple vanilla frosting. 

Most recipe sites don't include nutritional information, but I came across myrecipes.com which listed fat and caloric info and had an easy to follow cupcake and frosting recipe. Score! I chose this recipe for the cake and this recipe for the frosting. I followed the recipes in their entirety except for one substitution. I used low-fat sour cream instead of yogurt in the cupcake recipe. It's what I had in my fridge, it's what I used.

The result? They were great cupcakes for my first try. The frosting was delicious. I think I will be using the same recipe again and again, adding different flavors to it like lemon or chocolate for variation. I made too much frosting for the amount of cupcakes I had. Next time I will make half the recipe.  The cupcake itself was kind of dense, reminding me more of a muffin than a cupcake. I need to find a recipe for a fluffier, lighter cake. Any suggestions? Feel free to leave links to your favorite cupcake recipe (light and fluffy please).

 Happy baking! 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Is there anything better than Fridays? Looking forward to two days of relaxing and enjoying life, a mini-vacation really. Today I am particularly excited because I get to celebrate one year of marital bliss with my man. I'm not one to celebrate Valentine's Day (we stayed home and made sandwiches this year) but I think I want to really celebrate our anniversary since it's really just about us. What are we going to do this weekend? Who knows? I am totally in the dark and I love it!

To kick of your weekend, I thought I'd share a cookie recipe with you. As you know, I am trying to get into baking and my last experience, seen here, was so positive that I felt ready to try another recipe. I find cookies are a nice way to ease into the uncharted territory of baking, at least for me. Cookies are pretty hard to mess up and I think I am ready to tackle a cake, complete with homemade frosting. I'll keep you posted.

Oatmeal raisin cookies are a classic. I'm not usually a fan of raisins but they strike the perfect balance with the chewy texture of this cookie. I used a really easy to follow recipe (from here) and they came out perfect. The little hint of cinnamon really rounds off the flavors. Although the recipe is supposed to yield 24 cookies, I only had about 18 cookies. I guess I made mine slightly larger.

My favorite part about baking these cookies was the wonderful aroma coming out of the kitchen. Once they were  completely cooled, I stored them in an air-tight resealable plastic bag and they kept well all week.

Happy baking!