St. Patty’s Day Dessert: Cake Bites

5 March, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

The ingredients for these adorable (two) bite-sized lucky charm cakes came from my beloved Joy of Cooking cookbook! I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make them St. Patrick’s Day themed! I took them to my mother-in-law’s for a family dinner she was having. They were a huge hit! Ingredients for Cake: 1 1/2 C flour 1 1/2 tea baking powder 1 C sugar 1/2 tea salt 2 eggs 1 stick of butter, softened  1/2 C milk 1 tea vanilla extract Ingredients for frosting:   8 oz cream cheese (chilled)   1 1/2 C powdered sugar  2 tea vanilla extract  a few drops of green food coloring or green sprinkles Directions for cake: Preheat the oven to 375. Grease two round cake pans well.  Whisk flour, baking power, sugar, and salt together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Divide the batter evenly and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. You will know it is done when a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack inside the pan for about ten minutes (see picture on left above) before removing them. Let the cakes completely cool before making your clovers. Next, cut out those clovers out! I only got four clovers (two per pan) but my heart cookie cutter is pretty large, almost big enough to fit my hand through. I’m sure you could get many more with a smaller heart. You can use the leftovers to make the stem, or skip the stem and add another leaf and make it a lucky four-leaf clover!

My husband had no problem munching on the leftover cake and icing throughout the week after the party! He told me he doesn’t need his cake to look pretty. Ha! Directions for frosting: Combine all ingredients together (except for the sprinkles if you are going that route) into a food processor and blend! Easy as pie..or cake! Spread the frosting onto the cake and decorate as desired. I went with simple green sprinkles, because that is what I had on hand. I think next time I will use green food coloring with white sprinkles for more of a pop!

Enjoy with a cuppa’ tea (or green beer?!)

xoxo,

Kate

What Jamie Made: How To Reuse Your Green Onions

4 March, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

Remember the bundle of green onions that we used in our Dragon Noodles post? Well let’s just say, those onions are still alive and going strong! Thanks to Kate’s amazing knowledge of food, I now have a little pot of green onions readily available and growing in my tiny apartment kitchen.

If you plan on using green onions for your next dish, be sure to save the roots! You most likely will never have to buy another bundle of green onions for some time. Planting these babies were cheaper than a jar of molasses (seriously). Here’s what you’ll need:

– Recycled newspaper or magazine

– All purpose potting soil (only $1 from the Dollar Tree)

– Ceramic pot (thrifted mine for $0.69)

– Green onion roots

– Shallow dish for water

– Small rocks for better drainage* (found outside or at your local dollar store)

*Optional

Not only is this eco-friendly project super cheap, but it also takes less than five minutes to make!

1. Simply start out by laying out your recycled paper. Then, once you have everything ready, begin placing the rocks at the bottom of your ceramic pot, spreading them evenly to where water can drain or be absorbed through the soil.

2. Next, put just a little soil at the bottom of the pot while also placing your onion’s roots just above it. Pour in a little soil at a time until you reach about 3/4 of the way from the top of your pot, and just enough to help keep your onions in place. Fill in any places that look like they might need more soil filling.

3. Find a shallow dish for water and to place your pot in. Pictured below, you can see that I reused a plastic top from a to-go restaurant bowl.

And voila! You’ve just potted your first reused bunch of green onions. It might help to have a couple little planted pots of green onions at a time, and at different growth stages, so that it’ll be easier for you to snip some for your next dish! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have done this not only for our home, but for our environment.

xoxo, Jamie

What Kate Cooked: Dessert

4 March, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

What Kate Cooked:

If you have been, or are planning a trip to Columbus any time soon, I do hope I can persuade you to visit the North Market. This indoor market is in a beautiful, historic warehouse and houses over 30 booths and is home to local restaurant, grocery, and specialty shops. I am obsessed with Lan Viet’s Vietnamese soup and the Pure Imagination Chocolatier. Another Columbus classic is Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. Basically, it is very easy to walk out of the North Market ten pounds heavier and your wallet much lighter!

When I came across this gem in my local library I had to check it out and try some recipes. Of course, the first thing my eye (and stomach) was attracted to was the dessert section, specifically Jeni’s recipe!

Brandied Cherries

1 pound frozen black cherries
1/4 cup brandy (I used blackberry brandy!)
1/4 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes. Let cool before covering and refrigerating. This will stay good for up to a week!

The book suggests to do this the day before, but I couldn’t help myself and tried it the same day. It was still delicious. Also, Anthony had some this morning in vanilla Greek yogurt and said it was delicious for breakfast too!

Honey and Vin Santo Sauce (in my case Honey and Sherry Sauce)

1/4 cup Sherry
2 tablespoons honey

Combine in a sauce pan and stir over medium heat until dissolved.

I went to three different grocery stores looking for some Vin Santo but couldn’t find any so I used sherry instead. It turned out fantastic! I think it was my favorite of the three toppings I made. Plus, I feel like so many sauces call for “a splash of sherry” and I never have any, now I will be able to use the rest of the sherry in other recipes and not have to omit it!

Honeyed Whipped Cream

2 teaspoons honey
1 cup heavy cream

Pour honey and just a splash of cream into a mixing bowl. Mix until honey is combined with cream. Add the rest of the cream and whip until soft peaks form.

Get ready to lick the bowl, spoon, and whisk. This honeyed whip cream is fantastic! If you live in Columbus, or where Jeni’s is sold in a grocery store, the book suggests serving this over the Salty Caramel ice cream, but I also (yes, also) had this with a bowl of French vanilla and it was super yummy. Really, you could eat these toppings over any ice cream or frozen yogurt and be happy.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Kate

Finding Pinspiration

1 March, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

Kate’s Inspirations:

The weather is Ohio is a big tease. This weekend the temperature got up to almost 60 degrees! I considered going out in a t-shirt and skirt without tights, but then thought better. I still left the house in only a light sweater. We are back down into the 20’s now and I am bitter, cold, and seriously day dreaming about summertime.

Outdoor Kitchen l Babble

I would like to introduce you to my future back yard. This home is, of course, located in a temperate climate like San Diego (without the cost of living). My kitchen windows open up to a patio/bar. You are all invited over for drinks. Watch the mail for an invitation.

This Invitation l Rifle Paper Co.

Expect at my party for me to be wearing one of these cool, bright, and flowing summer dresses. Complements will not be necessary, but encouraged.

Floral Texture Flippy Dress l Top Shop
Gathering Flowers l Shop Ruche
Stripe Sun Dress l Marc Jacobs

I will also be serving in season fruit fresh from the farmers market. In the form as such below.

Basil-Peach Topping l Pioneer Woman Cooks
Blueberry-Ricotta Tart l Martha Stewart

Hurry up summer! I want all of these beautiful and yummy things!

Jamie’s Inspirations:

Typography is a skill that I’ve had a desire to learn more about recently, and while I have somewhat of a basic understanding for it, I want to play with some new techniques that don’t require just a pen and piece of paper. These finds on Pinterest caught my eyes instantly and have me in absolute awe with the amount of talent the artists have!

& – Keziah Chong
Coffee & Donuts – Steph Baxter

Thrive in Truth – Todd Wendorff
Not All Those Who Wander – Zachary Smith
Ralph Waldo Emerson – ohmydeer

So many ideas have been a-brewing in my head, especially with spring just around the corner! Can’t wait to experiment with bright florals so that I can clear my head from this winter blues!

xoxo,

J&K

What She Wore: Almost Spring!

26 February, 201417 July, 2014 oursweetsomewhereLeave a comment

What Kate Wore:

I can smell it in the air! Spring is on its way and I cannot wait for it much longer. With the first nice day in months, my husband and I dropped our stuff off as soon as we got home from work and went on a long walk around our neighborhood.

Kate’s wearing: Boots/thrifted; pants/H&M; Coat/Jam Pixie; Scarf/Cejon ; Bag/Falchi

I have started to pull out my brighter, more spring like clothes and this season is going to be all about the jewel tones for me.

What Jamie Wore:

One thing I love about the location of where my boyfriend and I live are the many trails that surround our apartment complex. Although the walk is beautiful during all four seasons, it just never quite seems as fun or appealing in the winter months; and especially this year! So when the weather recently decided to send some much-needed sunshine our way, I took the opportunity to explore more of the bare forests nearby. This sweater-blouse-boot-leggings combo that I wore had just the right amount of light layers to help keep me both cool and warm throughout the entire afternoon.

jamie’s wearing: boots: windsor / leggings: target / blouse: target / bag: gifted

“Oh look! Deer!” Those were the exact words I muttered when my boyfriend took this picture of me since there literally were about 10 of those woodland creatures wandering through the woods, only 20 feet away from us!

xoxo,

J&K