I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Archives for December 2010

Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket

Pigs in a Blanket are a classic hor dourves. They commonly grace plates at parties because they are easy to make, can be dressed up, and are loved by all. I felt that with New Years quickly approaching! that I had to whip of a few to celebrate a bit early since we will be traveling for New Years.

I, being a cheese lover, added cheese to my pigs in a blanket. I used Swiss cheese because it has a great flavor to stand up to the buttery crescent roll. Using sliced cheese is better than using shredded cheese because it is easier to work with and evenly portion.

Enjoy the Piggies with a dipping sauce. I prefer mustard because it goes so well with hot dogs. Since I used swiss cheese in the recipe, I suggest a Dijon mustard because it is fairly acidic and it holds up against the strong swiss.

Cheesy Pigs in a Blanket

Makes 24

Ingredients

  • 1 package of cresent rolls (8 rolls)
  • 6 hot dogs
  • 2 slices of cheese, I suggest swiss

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Cut each crescent piece into 3 triangles, cut each hot dog into 4 pieces, and each slice of cheese into 12 slices. This results in 24 pieces of each ingredient.
  3. To assemble the pigs in a blanket, lay out a piece of crescent roll, then a piece of cheese, and then a piece of hot dog. Roll the crescent to seal.
  4. Arrange all pieces on baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
  5. Serve with mustard.

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Garden Girl LO- Studio Calico 12/5 Sunday Sketch

I’m playing catch up with the Studio Calico Sunday Sketches. At this point I just want to do them because they are so cute and inspiring. So I don’t want to brush them aside and move on, which is why I am posting from a layout from a few weeks back.

This layout is of a picture I took of Bunny when I had her outside this past spring. I knew this would be a good layout for this picture because I wanted the picture to stand on its own without a lot of journaling. And in the end it didn’t have any!

The embellishments I used are Entwined Blooms from Sassafras. They, along with the patterned paper, and letter stickers, arrived in my monthly Studio Calico kit. The piece where I put the title is a piece of packaging from Sassafras. I just love their packaging because they actually design it instead of leaving it blank.

SnowLoko

The Blizzard of 2010.. aka SnowLoko (at least that is what it was referred to on Twitter)

Sunday night before going to bed

Snowed in on Monday morning

The wind made for some weird snow drifts, some higher than my knee and other low spots, like this. Luckily a low spot was in the drive way so we got out pretty easily to return Price’s rental car for 7am.

Out on Brighton Ave in Alston at 7am, Heading into work at 8.30am

The golden dome of The State House

Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel Burying Ground (from my office)

 

 

 

Snowman Cupcakes

I have not been the holiday mood this year. We don’t even have a tree. We just have a simple advent calendar I made but it keeps falling down. Go figure. The only ornaments I have up are at my office on my cube. (I do love looking that them all day- Thanks Erin!)

So I have been a bit Grinchy lately and I decided that I had to get out of this by making something fun. What’s better than cupcakes? Cupcakes topped with snowmen! I’m not a big fan of the cucpakes that are filed high with frosting so I decided to use marshmallows for the snowmen. And I’d use chocolate covered pretzels as twiggy arms. hehe

So began my baking at 5.45am on Wed morning. I prepped the night before but I did not feel like baking then so I just decided to make them in the morning. I made a chocolate cupcake with an eggnog frosting. The chocolate was the frozen ground, frosting was the fresh snow where the happy snowmen sat.

These little guys were well received in my office. We were totally maxed out on sweets with a lot of furniture vendors giving us brownies, cookies, candy, cake, and pie, but some people made room for them or brought them home to their kids.

Snowmen Cupcakes

recipe makes 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcake

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa power
3/4 cup of coffee
1/2 cup of cold milk
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 /2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 large eggs
6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, melted.
 

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 12-cup cupcake pans with liners.

Combine the first 4 ingredients together in a small bowl, set side.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt together, set aside.

Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.

Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture one at a time. Beat in the melted chocolate, mix thoroughly.

Add in the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the liquid ingredients.

Mix all until thoroughly combined. Divide the batter evenly into the 24 cupcake liners.

Bake 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick is cleanly removed.

Once the cupcakes have cooled frost them and decorate.

 

Eggnog Frosting

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup eggnog
approximately 1 1/2 pounds of confectioners sugar
 

With a mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla  extract and continue to beat it.

Add in 1/2 the eggnog and then add in small batches of confectioners sugar. As the frosting begins to combine, add in the rest of the eggnog and then add enough sugar to reach the desired consistency.

 

Snowmen

12 10″ skewers, cut in half
72 marshmallows (2 packages)
Black and Orange- foodoodlers, gel icing, or markers
24 chocolate covered pretzels (1 package of Flipz is enough)
 

Using a scissor, cut all dowels in half to get 24 “spines” for the snowmen.

Put 3 marshmallows on each skewer. Do not pierce the end of the top marshmallow since it is the head.

Draw face on top marshmallow.

Cut 2 pretzel arms from each pretzel. Using a paring knife or scissor, cut 2 deep slits on each side of the middle marshmallow. Insert each arm into knife slit, marshmallow will “self heel” around pretzel arm.

Insert 1 snowman into each cupcake.

**If you don’t have edible food markers (aka foodoodlers), or forget your stuff at home like me, just use a marker and warn people about the top marshmallow.**

Tattoo #3

This is what I did today on my day off.

I’ve wanted a mermaid tail tattoo on my foot for over a year now. I love mermaids. I have some mermaid prints from Amy Brown and David Delamare in the bathroom but I am not about to get crazy and add chotchkies in our place. I draw the line somewhere and that somewhere is my right foot.

I went to Good Faith Tattoo for my 3rd tattoo. I met with Ben Sacks and went though the inspiration that I brought in. I also explained that I wanted a mermaid tail to wrap over the top of my foot with the starting point at my right ankle. He got to work and did 4 sketches to get it perfect. He took his time making subtle changes to each sketch to get he stencil to be right for the contours of my foot.

Now when someone tells you that getting a tattoo done on your foot hurts, they are not lying. The guys there warned me and I knew it would hurt since your foot has less fat on it for padding. I took 2 breaks, one when Price came in to say hi and see it on his way home from work and another after Ben did all the blue work (more on that later). One of the guys there said that his foot tattoo (of a rat) hurt badly. Now I’m gonna believe him because he had the nicest blue eyes and several neck tattoos. I’d think a neck tattoo would hurt more than your foot, but I’m not about to argue with the man.

I love the coloring that Ben did. I went through the portfolio books and saw a koi fish that had similar colors and loved it. But let me tell you, blue ink is a bitch. First getting a tattoo on you foot hurts but blue ink is ‘sticky’ so Ben had to keep wiping my foot because I began to look like a Navi. And I could not figure out what hurt more, the tattooing or the (gently) wiping off with a wet paper towel. Sooo sensitive!

I love it and need to let it heel now. I’m relaxing with my foot up now to give it a much needed break. And I’m watching sooo much Glee, making the night even better.

Holiday Party 2010

Last Thusrday night, my office had our holiday party get together. We headed over to Cambridge to go to the Blue Room. We had a private room to ourselves that featured the lovely Burt Reynolds all over the walls. It was hilarious.

Before the food was attacked and devored I took a few pictures. Boy, let me tell you, the passed hors d’oeuvres were fantastic. I can’t decide what I liked more… the spicy shrimp wontons with chili + soy dipping sauce or the tuna tartare on sesame crisps (pictured). The hors d’oeuvres also included 2 kinds of wood grilled pizza, a plate of roasted vegetables, and an amazing cheese plate.

The servers were on top of things, esp topping off our drinks. As in the case of Price telling a co-worker…”This is my first glass of champagne… I’ve just had it refilled 6 times” (wink wink).

It was a fantastic night. The best part was that I was able to go since a project I am working on had a BIG presentation on Friday. So happy to get out of the office on time and have a great presentation the next day. Perfect way to wrap up a hectic week.

**If the guy in the left picture looks familiar it’s because he was on Season 2 of HGTV’s Design Star. Tom was up from our NY office working on some projects so he came out to celebrate with the Boston Office. **

Sticky with Champagne (at The Urban Grape)

This past Sunday night, I went to a Champagne, Port and Oyster Tasting at The Urban Grape. They hosted the event for 100 customers. I was so excited to RSVP in time for this fun event.

  • NV Gaston Chiquet Blanc de Blancs D’Ay, Grand Cru
  • NV Guy Larmandier Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru
  • NV Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Blanc de Blancs, 1er Cru
  • NV Marc Hebrart “Cuvee de Reserve,” 1er Cru
  • NV H. Goutorbe Rose, Grand Cru
  • NV Louis Roederer “Carte Blanche” Extra-Dry
  • Warre’s “Otima” 10 Year Tawny Port
  • Warre’s 2000 Late Bottle Vintage Port

I enjoyed the tasting and hearing about each champagne from owner, TJ Douglas. Of course I loved the pricest champagne ($66)… I have expensive taste like that. But really, if you are going to have champagne get something good and that you enjoy… Korbel is not Champagne, nuff said.

There was an Oyster Bar from Neptune Oyster, located in the North End of Boston. I’m not a fan of oysters, so that just ment there were more to go around to the people who love them.

The Urban Grape is a wine store located in Chestnut Hill, MA that approached wine in a creative way, by taste. They organize their wines by flavor and body, instead of region. This helps people expand their pallets and find new wines by finding a starting point they like. I like this system much more than other stores because a Chardonnay is not just Chardonnay, there can be light ones or ones that have a bit more bite, so this helps you pick a wine that you are more likely going to enjoy. Wine can be intimidating but they make the process of getting something new easily. Love them for it.

The Urban Grape
7 Boylston Street
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

617.232.4831

Birthday Dinner

Yesterday was my friend Emily‘s birthday. We went out to celebrate with food and drinks at Post 390. This place always impresses us with their amazing service, fantastic food, and tasty drinks. Those drinks go down just so easily! Esp when your best friend is yelling at you to drink another one because it’s her birthday and that means you have to do what she says.

The Hedgehog Ornament, one of the gifts I got for Emily, was getting cozy with the butter, and confusing all the servers. It’s not a porcupine people! The hedgehog started to off having plenty of room but soon he lost out on real estate when all our appetizers and sides came. It is perfectly reasonable to make a meal out of appetizers and sides.

We had a great time catching up. Yes, we live live 3 miles away, email each other every day, Price and her work together… but we still need long dinners like this to really catch up on the shit storms that are our lives. Oh, the hilarious insanity.

Happy Birthday Emily… may this year bring you happiness and success. But really… let it bring more (controlled) backyard/kitchen fires, drunken nights playing Trivial Purist, overnights sleeping on the Cos, and adventures driving to random towns.

Living Today at Martha Stewart Radio

My love for all things Martha is undeniable and pretty well known. Martha magazine, cookbooks, show, products, and radio.  Well when there was a chance for the ‘first 5 people to email to get to attend a live broadcast for the Tree Trimming holiday show on Friday’. I jumped at the chance thinking I would be way to slow. Luckily I was not!

On Friday morning, I left Brookline before 6am to drive down to CT to meet my mom so we could go into The City together. Of course I stopped on the way for breakfast at Bill’s Bread and Breakfast to get the BEST english muffins around.

We encountered some issues with the train since service was down. Luckily, as soon as we ran back to my car to try to another station on a different line there was an annoucement  saying it was just restored, so we ran right back. And very randomly, I ran into someone I had not seen since HS so we got to catch up. Fate… maybe?

I love New York City. I doubt I could ever live there, but I love to visit it. I love the energy of the city. We arrived in busy Grand Central and then headed over to 5th Ave. We saw really interesting window displays at Sack’s as well on our way up to St Patrick’s Cathedral. After that we wandered over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

We then headed over to grab some light lunch at ‘Witchcraft in the concourse of 30 Rock.

The McGraw-Hill Building is the Sirius HQ, so we went there next to see the radio broadcast. We arrived to a busy scene with with Martha Stewart Staff decorating the tree in the lobby. Even Greg Kleva was there!

The group of us went into the Fish Bowl Studio, where the show was being broadcasted from that day. The studio was just as busy as the lobby with Mario (the host), Lauren Gloud (the producer), engineers, interns, and the incoming guests.

The first guests were 2 Rockettes, Allyson Kelly and Elizabeth Sousek, from Radio City Music Spectacular. They were stunning. The explained how they became Rockettes, what it is like being a Rockette, their healthy life styles, and they even brougth recipes with them. But the most impressive things about Rockettes… their kicks! They told us they do 300 kicks per show. Clearly they had to show how they do the kicks, and clearly, I had to volunteer to learn now. I was really embarrassing and hard! I have this on video so I will have to post all this embarrassment later. ha

The next guest was Sal Scognamillo, head chef and co-owner of New York City’s Patsy’s Restaurant. He brought Baked Clams, Shrimp Scampi, and Strufoli for everyone to try. Sal discussed Christmas traditions and some of the ways to prepare for the Feast of Seven Fishes.

The third guest was Event Organizer David Monn. David explained various ways of setting the holiday scene at home or at a party. He explained that creating the mood does not have to be expensive since a candle can add a lot to a space but you can get them for as little as $3. He brought 2 centerpieces with him that were stunning, inexpensive, and creative. The centerpieces are ‘low’ because you want to have pieces that are not in the way of your guests looking across the table to someone. He explained that centerpieces should not go much higher than your wrist when you have put your elbow on a table (see photo)

Abby Dodge came with some desserts. She wrote about book about desserts using only 4 ingredients in each recipe! She brought chocolate cheesecakes, bourbon balls, and pistachio shortbread. I loved the shortbread! Abby took questions during the show about baking recipes and problems- even from audience.

So the show has covered… appetizers, entrees, decorating, and dessert… what else does it need? DRINKS! Allen Katz, mixologist, brought 2 suitcases with him to haul up his drink ingredients. Allen made 5 drinks to fit perfectly for the upcoming holidays- like Run, Run Rudolph. Sadly, we did not get to try the drinks there but I think that the punch recipe is calling for me to make it.

After the show mom and I rushed back to Grand Central to get a train back home. We then did some dinner with my grandma- fried calamari on pizza is amazing! I was back on the road by 9pm and picking Price up from his poker night by 12.15. It was a L-O-N-G day but really worth it.

Check out the Martha Radio Blog post about that show, including recipes, here. (My mom and I are with  Mario in picture #31!)