i'm switching over. i've used blogger for so long, but i'm going to give another host site a shot.

now find me at:

http://brittanypiehl.wordpress.com/

last night i decided in honor of my last night of spring break that i would bake up a storm. unfortunately i'm still yearning for a kitchen-aid mixer and all mixing was done strenuously by hand. seriously, what a tough life.

i searched around for a good cookie recipe for a while before settling on my first instinct, making peanut butter cookies. jennie and i made them vegan, so everyone could enjoy them. they turned out pretty perfect, tasting just like childhood. plus, who knew how fun it is to make criss-cross patterns in cookie dough?

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 24 good sized cookies Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• Egg Replacer: 2tbsp water + 1 tbsp oil + 2tsp baking powder
• 1/2 heaping cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cream the vegan butter and sugars.
2. In separate bowl combine 2tbsp water + 1 tbsp oil + 2tsp baking powder. Ad mixture to butter/sugar and blend. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir until well blended.
3. Measure out tablespoonfuls of dough and roll into 1/.5" balls. Place 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Make criss-cross pattern with fork.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) 8-10 minutes until set, but not hard. Do not overbake. Leave on sheets for 2 minutes before removing. Cool, and store in covered container.

the weather has been amazing here for the past couple of days. extremely sunny and extremely nice temperature, which seems even better when i find out it's been snowing where my parents live. don't get me wrong, i like snow. but not in april.

not too much of an eventful weekend. i did a bit of shopping and saw a movie on saturday. yesterday i went to a clothing swap, which turned up a few really good finds. including an awesome pair of cowboy boots. yesssss. and last night neil and i went jogging because the temperature outside was perfect.

in cooking news we made pizza the other night. super simple and super good. i suppose i'll give it a really simple name: pesto pizza.

Pesto Pizza
Makes one pizza.

Ingredients
-1 pre-made pizza crust. (any brand will do, as well as any size. suggest using a thinner crust - it really isn't that thin and the pizza bakes better with a thinner crust)
-pepperonni (as much as you would like)
-three kinds of cheese: mozzarella, romano, and parmesan. (again, as much as you would like but do NOT go overboard, the pizza won't cook properly).
-pesto sauce
-olive oil
-half of a chopped red onion
-handful of kalamata olives, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to temperature (as designated on pre-made pizza crust wrapper).

Remove the pizza crust and place on cookie sheet. Light brush olive oil over the pizza crust. Next add pesto sauce to the surface, spreading evenly. Leave a ring around the outer edge of the pizza for a crust. Next add a handful of mozzarella cheese, spreading evenly. Evenly spread out the kalamata olives and red onion. Next add handfuls of the romano and parmesan cheese. finally place pepperoni wherever you'd like. Make sure NOT to overload on any cheese or toppings or the pizza will not cook through evenly.

Place in oven for time suggested on the pizza crust wrapper. Remove when the cheese is turning light brown and/or the bottom of the crust has browned. For a crispier crust remove the pizza from the baking sheet before placing it in the oven (highly recommended).

tuesday night, yes tuesday-i'm behind on posting, neil and i attempted a new pasta dish for dinner: shrimp & creamy pesto pasta. all-in-all it turned out pretty good. really thicky/creamy so i'd stick to a shorter portion size. also, don't bother trying to re-heat it the next day. it turns into a big sticky, greasy mess. pictures and the recipe to follow:

Shrimp & Creamy Pesto Pasta
Serves 3-4 people


Ingredients

~1 pound bow-tie pasta
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
ground black pepper & salt to taste
2 cloves garlic
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese or romano, or any italian mix
3 tbs pesto
large shrimp, peeled and deveined (as many as desired)
1 shallot
mushrooms (as many as desired)

Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.

Chop shallot and garlic. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat, add shallot and garlic. Once the shallot has browned add mushrooms, cook until finished. Next stir in cream, and season with salt/pepper. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir cheese into cream sauce, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Blend in the pesto, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until they turn pink, about 5 minutes.

Serve sauce over the hot pasta. garnish with cheese.

(note: see http://www.flickr.com/photos/brittanypiehl for photos)

no, i did not forget about blogging already. i was in DC for most of last week, all of last weekend, and part of this week. it was the most glorious vacation of my LIFE. needless to say i want to go back, as soon as possible.

neil and i flew in wednesday around 8ish at night. we stayed at this really nice place, the hotel lombardy. it's a building on the historic register and has one of those old fashion elevators - operator and all. that night we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to an awesome place - kramer's books and afterwords cafe. cafe / bookstore. AWESOME. and the food was good. crab cake. i had so much freakin' crab cake while i was there. then we walked around dupont circle taking some really nice pictures. it was awesome being there again. knowing where most things are, knowing how to use the metro. i remembered everything again, very quickly.

thursday we spent all day at the US capitol and the holocaust museum. that was rather exhausting, but also awesome. it's rather interesting going to museums now - after having my first to quarters of grad school. it gives you a completely different perspective on many things. that night we went to my favorite mexican place - lauriol plaza. it also happens to be one of bill clnton's favorites. though he was wasn't there, just pictures of him and the staff on the wall. after that we walked to the adam's morgan neighborhood and went to a hookah bar.

friday we met with jess!!!! and went to SAAM and the national portrait gallery. i left neil and jess (they went to have lunch with our friend tim) and had lunch with my old co-workers. it was nice to catch up with everyone. after that i met jess and neil and we did a monuments walking tour, which resulted in much pain. note to self, sneakers are worth it. friday night neil and i got dinner at an indian place and then drinks at a dive bar near our hotel.

saturday - brunch at luna's bar and grill. after that neil and i went to the national gallery, which was amazing but exhausting. after that we made a quick run around the american history museum before it closed. that night we met tim and jess for dinner at the tabard inn. the food was SUPER good but we were so tired from walking around all day.

sunday we got up and headed to eastern market, one of my favorite parts of DC. we walked through a bunch of vendors booths and had brunch at montmartre. where i had what i now declare the best eggs benedict of my LIFE. it was SO good. also, the waiter tempted us three times with a mint infused fruit salad. we declined but have regretted it ever since. WHY? on the way back to the hotel we stopped by the white house and took some photos. sunday afternoon was spent at the international spy museum. it was fun but super glamorized. sunday night we had dinner with jess and tim and then headed back to the hotel to pack.

monday - our flight wasn't until 3:30 pm so we took advantage of the morning. we went to a greasy spoon that neil desperately wanted to try - cf folks. more crab cake and definitely the best i had during the trip. after that we swung by the renwick gallery quick. then finally headed back on the 6-7 hour flight to san francisco.

all in all an AWESOME vacation.

tomorrow morning i leave for the happiest place on earth. i won't bring my computer with me, but expect a long post and tons of photos once i arrive back in the east bay.

also, the school quarter is over tonight. YES. two down...several more to go...

sophie and nate left today for the long drive back to iowa. before they left we managed to spend a good amount of time together though. if only i didn't have work. speaking of. i only have work for two days next week and then off to dc!! i do have class next week though, and a paper to finish before monday. so i need to get planning.

last night neil. sophie, nate and myself sent to chez panisse for dinner. it was the best meal i've had there yet. i ordered a ricotta and artichoke salad with cilantro and lime. it was soooooooo good. i'm looking forward to trying to recreate it on my own. neil and nate both had oysters and sophie ordered a salad consisting primarily of blood oranges. for my entree i had a pasta dish... i can't remember the title. noodles similar to ziti, rigontoncinni, maybe? with mint, cream and aspargus. it, also, was very good. For desert I tried the caramel cream puffs with bittersweet chocolate sauce and candied walnuts. though it was a bit too rich it was still very delicious. we also ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, and as a result had a really, really good time.

Today we went to the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon in the marina. i haven't spent much time up there and got to see many different views of golden gate bridge and alcatraz. we also all tried more chocolate than we could all stomach. the best was definitely a chocolate with bacon, salt and pop rocks, or 'sizzling bacon chocolate'. wow, so good. later today neil and i went to sur la table, always a risk. i made it out of the store only buying a cooling rack though, crisis adverted.

My friends sophie and nate are here from iowa! yesssssss, first visitors since i've moved here! last night shannon made delicious tofu dijon and the five of us ate dinner together.



then sophie, nate, neil and myself went to albatross and played scrabble while having a few drinks.

note: scrabble is much harder in person than online. Note the score card picture. Yes, neil and i beat sophie and nate. booyah.

also, it's been incredibly nice here lately. super sunny and warmer. spring has arrived.

I made pumpkin penne pasta last night, even though i haaaaaate cooking for only one person. it turned out alright though - i added asparagus to the original recipe. it's in season here and is yummy, delicious and bright green. the recipe is very simple and could easily be halved down. it could also easily be added to - I've tried shrimp before and that was excellent. the original recipe calls for an entire can of pumpkin, but i usually end up using half to three-fourths of a can.

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce
Adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine

1 pound penne pasta
2T butter
1 onion, chopped
Salt & pepper
1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more for topping
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot, along with the reserved pasta water, and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt & pepper.

Top pasta with parsley and more Parmesan to serve.

in celebration of jennie's sister being in town we went to acme bar last night for a few drinks. i hadn't been there in a while and it's a really neat venue to sneak some pictures. lots of dark corners and red light. i've recently found out that a few friends from Iowa are visiting this week - i'm really excited! we've made dinner reservations for friday at the chez panisse cafe and on saturday there is a international chocolate fair in san francisco -
more on this later.

it's been raining off and on all morning. i absolutely love it. i slept in until 10:37 am, which normally would be completely impossible. so far i haven't done much besides have cereal and sit in bed. jennie's sister, aimee is visiting and was cutting up some fruit from the berkeley bowl. pineapple has such a great texture so i took a few photos. also strawberries, yum!


also, a few photos from the failed banana bread the other night. at the canvass dinner on friday we tried to figure out what went wrong...most likely inadequate baking time and/or too little baking soda.

Last night Neil and I went to a dinner party that a coworker told me about. It's a branch off from the original ghetto gourmet (http://www.theghet.com). The ghetto gourmet, which started in 2004 as an underground dinner party movement, grew quickly and as a result canvas underground was born - as a way to keep the parties at an intimate and smaller size. the dinner we attended last night was hosted in glen park. i haven't spent any time there and was pleasantly surprised. narrow winding streets and cute corner stores. everywhere.

the dinner party is hosted by a volunteer so the venue changes from party to party. the chef, peter jackson, had a wonderful menu lined up including:

Cream of Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar Croutons
Romaine Salad with Golden Beet Vinaigrette, Blood Oranges and Sweet Italian Onions
Homemade Linguica Sausage with White Beans and Wilted Chicories
Baba Au Rhum with Whipped Cream

there was plenty of wine passed around, and we were fortunate enough to meet loads of new people with similar interests. i'll definitely look forward to attending again - and next time hopefully taking a few photos.

I attempted to make banana bread last night and failed. miserably. It wasn't so bad beside the fact that the top half of the middle portion of the loaf didn't cook so well. I think i need to invest in two smaller loaf pans. The non-cooking happened because i didn't leave the bread in for as long as the last time I made it - to avoid browning the bread too much. yuck, i hate burnt things. better luck next time.

I'm back for a second day - hopefully I can keep this up. After spending all of yesterday in a cramped office space with oh-so-lovely fluorescent lighting I managed to sneak away and work out before going home. Even though I have the most convenient set up in terms of working/working out it's still hard to find time with class, paper writing, and everyday life.

Last night I gave a new recipe a try....Lemon Orzo with Mushrooms and Pine Nuts. For fun I added shrimp as well. It actually turned out pretty well...I need a strainer with smaller holes for the orzo pasta, so I had to attempt the using the lid as a strainer method. everything ended up okay though and it made enough for four people. The original recipe didn't call for cheese, but I definitely recommend using about 1/2 cup of Parmesan. mhmmmm yum.

Lemon Orzo with Mushrooms and Pine Nuts
Adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine

Ingredients

-1 lb orzo pasta
-3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
-3/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
-2 lemons, juice of
-1 lemon, zest of
-2 (6 ounce) white mushrooms, sliced (depending)
-1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-10 medium/large shrimp
-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
-Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the orzo until al dente. Drain and return to the pot. Stir in toasted pine nuts, parsley, lemon juice, lemon peel, and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly coat skillet with olive oil and set stove to high heat until rippling. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 7 minutes. If using pre-cooked shrimp add them to the Orzo mixture. After mushrooms have cooked add them to Orzo mixture.

Note: Because I didn't have the right strainer my pasta was left with a bit more water than usual, therefore I did not use the called for amount of olive oil - just a drizzle. I suspect that with the proper strainer you would not come across this problem. I'd recommend adding a bit of olive oil and going from there - depending on how oily you want your pasta to be.

Serve and eat!

I'm going to attempt to start this up again, though we'll see how that actually goes. Second quarter of grad school will be over within the next two weeks and i'm really excited about wrapping things up. I spent monday night in the kitchen, after class, attempting a baking project. An old standard though - andes chocolate brownie cupcakes. though with my new camera the pictures are far more enticing. This recipe is so easy it hurts and feels like you're cheating yourself out of a true baking experience. Though, it's quick and easy and you're left with an extremely rich treat. i'd recommend having them warm and possibly with a glass of milk - if you're into that.

Andes Mints Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes
Any dry brownie mix - prepared as directed
Two boxes of Andes Mints (could use the cherry or toffee flavors, though mint takes the cake)

Line cupcake pan with liners and fill with brownie batter to half full. Place one Andes Mint in the middle and press slightly down, nearly covering the mint with batter. Add additional batter (only a slight bit) if needed to cover any exposed mint. Bake as directed (approximately 25-30 minutes at suggested heat). Immediately remove and place on cooling rack. For Andes Mint topping place one mint on top of cupcake and let melt for a few seconds. Using a small spoon (or your finger if you don't mind a little heat) swirl the melted mint over the cupcake. Place cupcakes in refrigerator to cool/harden.