Last week I was in a ravioli-making frenzy. I ate raviolis five nights in a row. Five. Count them. I'm on what they call the anti-South Beach diet. :) This carb loving girl never says no to fresh pasta. What brought on this carb loading you ask? Well it all started with a simple tiny little unassuming bag of flour. 00 flour (super duper finely milled) to be exact. Most pasta recipes I've seen ask for 00 flour, but since it's not easily or readily available, I normally substitute with all purpose flour. Since I was all stocked up on the good stuff, now was time to see what all the hype was about.
It was love at first knead. The flour is baby powder soft and absorbs the liquid in a flash. I used the proportion of one cup of flour to one egg. A few teaspoons of water helped bring it all together. I gave the dough about 30 minutes for the glutens to relax and rolled it out as thin as possible. I cut out rounds using a large biscuit cutter and then I set everything up assembly line style.
Wrappers, filling and egg wash to seal it all up. Hungry tummys want food fast.
00 flour is awesome. It yields the tenderest most delectably delicious dough.
Do you live in or around Cincinnati, Ohio? If so, you're in luck because Scott and the Queen City Voxers Group have organized a Vox user meetup!
WHERE: Ault Park Playground. 3600 Observatory Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. "We'll look for each other at the playground marked by the red X below. If it's raining, head for the shelter to the north of the [red] X."
To RSVP (which is not essential, but is appreciated), reply to Scott's announcement or send him a private message. All Voxers, as well as their friends and family, are welcome to attend.
If you do attend the meetup, have a great time and please take lots of pictures and send them to me so I can post them in Team Vox for everyone to see!
Thank you so much to Scott for organizing this meetup. Wish I could be there!
Watching sitcoms where Brussels Sprouts were compared to feet, I never really fully understood the analogy. Granted, I was eight or so at the time and many things in the big world eluded my young mind. I loved vegetables as a child. Even the bitterest greens were like candy to me. It's all about your attitude and your openness to new tastes. I created this completely vegetarian meal to defy the common childhood stereotype filled with Fido-worthy veggies. We've got sweet steamed corn with miso butter and Parmesan, crunchy stir-fry of yellow/orange carrots and protein-rich edamame, garlic braised spinach and a bowl of multi-grain brown rice mix. If vegetables were always this pretty, who wouldn't lick their plates clean?
Cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven are simply irresistible. Add some raisins spiked with dark rum and a rum glaze for an alcoholic twist. From good to great, right? Well in my dessert-minded imagination, I was smiling as my teeth were sinking into one of these yeasty rolls. A smile-bite. I had such high hopes for this recipe, but my tumultuous relationship with yeast quickly squelched those dreams. When the dough did not double in size after the first rise, I knew something had gone awry. It grew - just not enough. Just like a proud parent turns a blind eye to their child's faults, I just crossed my fingers in a state of denial and proceeded rolling and cutting and baking away. "They'll be fine after I bake them," I thought as I consoled myself. My biggest fear was realized once they came out of the oven. They were far from the Cinnabon wannabes that I had imagined... more dense like store bought cinnamon rolls. Arg... that darn yeast! I'll get you next time!
Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."
We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.
The worst criminal in the world:
What can I say? Never drink and drive, but this is never booze before busting in!
but it was just a comercial: good car though.
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, today is the summer solstice. For ancient civilizations, this day was akin to our modern day New Year's Eve and was viewed as a time to reflect and renew. So why not kick off your summer celebration with a new theme?
See all of our themes in the Design Area.
Or choose from one of these brand-new themes. (Available under "New.")
Making vegetable stock has become somewhat of a weekly ritual for me. The increased frequency is in part due to a tip from Bourgeois Bee. He told me that he uses his carrot tops for stock. And though I enjoy eating the carrot tops, it's more of a once in a while, not a weekly sort of thing for me. Hooray for more stock ammo!
With stock production at its peak in Julie's Kitchen and the Lakers-Celtics series going on, there couldn't have been a more perfect time to entertain. I always like starting with something light to awaken the taste buds. Sometimes it's a salad. This night is was a soup. I roasted a bunch of yellow carrots to concentrate their sweetness and add a nice brown caramelization. That equals more flavor. When you are making a vegetable puree sort of soup, the more sophisticated and complex your flavors are the better. Simple ingredients are great. Simple flavor is not. Under season your stock and your guests will wonder why you are serving them mushy baby food! Ick!
Another way to keep the flavor of simple soup from falling flat, is garnish. A nice pop of flavor. Contrast is key. You've heard of people eating watermelon with salt, right? My parents have been doing this forever. As a child this idea seemed a bit alien to me. Now I love mine with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. There is no sweetness without saltiness. Since these carrots were amazingly sweet, I wanted to accentuate their earthiness with a salsa made with roasted beets, yellow corn, Fuerte avocados and red peppers spritzed with lime juice. This lent a nice touch of acid and sweetness. This soup was well received by both Lakers and Celtics fans alike.
Even though it was my idea to go to Vicenti for date night on Friday, at the last minute, I vetoed my own plan. You'd think I was crazy to pass up one of the best (according to Jonathon Gold) Italian restaurants in L.A., but I had two legitimately sane reasons. One, my skinny jeans have been a tad too skinny and accentuated muffin tops are not a good look for me. Secondly, I was dying to have a shrimp boil. The idea suddenly struck me in the middle of the work day. Sometimes my mind wanders and makes its way back to the contents of my refrigerator. Shrimp and corn patiently waiting. The old undeniably carbalicious potato ready to compliment any meal. The meal idea practically fell into my lap. And when I get an idea into my head, no matter how ridiculous it is, one thing is for sure. It's going to happen.
A couple of months ago, we told you about Blog It powered by TypePad, the first cross-platform blogging application for Facebook the enables you to post to your Vox blog - and ALL your blogs - with a single click.
Within a week, Blog It had nearly 4,000 active users posting tweets and creating blog posts, as well as updating their status messages with the title and link to the published post. Today, Blog It's Facebook application has nearly 10,000 users. But here's the thing: You're not always sitting in front of the computer when the inspiration to blog strikes. And at Six Apart, it is our goal to provide you the tools you need need to blog where you want, and when you want.
Which is why this week we introduced Blog It for iPhone, a free web application just like the one we introduced for Facebook - only now - on your iPhone. Built specifically for iPhone's Safari browser, Blog It for iPhone enables you to post blog entries or status updates from wherever you are to more than a dozen different online services. And just like the original Facebook version, you can choose to share your posts with the people you know across various social networks.
To start blogging with Blog It for iPhone, go to http://blogit.typepad.com with your iPhone's Safari browser and install the Blog It icon onto your mobile desktop. Then, all you have to do is click the Blog It icon and start creating posts!
Whether you're riding the bus to work, cheering on your team courtside, or enjoying a picnic by the lake, now it's easier than ever to Blog It.
