Sam Made A Pie!

I know that it's kinda late for a Thanksgiving post, but I figured I'd at least get it up before December begins.

This year, Sam made the trek with me to New Jersey because her family was also celebrating the holiday in Jersey.

She spent Tuesday night through Thursday morning with the Medoways and got to witness first hand the crazy cooking marathon that we go through with each holiday (except Christmas Eve) of the year, every year.

She was a trooper. And, Wednesday night she did a fabulous job making the apple pie. She sliced apples, mixed them with sugar and spices, then cut out and arranged the pie dough on top.

So beautiful!

Just like the Pie Maker!

Everyone at dinner agreed that it was the best dessert (winning out over Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cake).

We use the Betty Crocker Deep Dish Apple Pie recipe every time. Seriously the greatest apple pie ever. Simple and absolutely delicious.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Meri

Happy Birthday Brooke!

This past weekend I traveled up to The College of New Jersey to visit my friend Brooke to celebrate her 21st birthday! Yay Brooke!

And I of course had to provide a baked good.

I based everything on the knowledge that Brooke loves peanut butter and chocolate (what fool doesn't?).

What did I come up with?

Chocolate cake with a peanut butter buttercream coated in a layer of chocolate ganache and garnished with chopped roasted peanuts.

That's a mouthful--a delicious one at that.

Sam and I ate that pool of leftover ganache in its entirety.

This cake is a testament to why I'm not allowed to ice the cakes at work.

Well, I'm allowed to, but I usually get yelled at because they look something like this.

Just kidding, it's not usually that bad.

I'm very thankful for ganache that covers up my horrendous top coat.

The cake was a hit. But, as you might assume, it was super rich so Brooke still has about half the cake to munch on. I hope she enjoys it for many more days.

Oh. And then I went to work. And then I cut my hand opening a can of beans. Yup. It's a pretty dignified stitch job.

And now that I'm stitched it barely looks like an injury despite the fact that I've been severely limited mobility-wise. Couldn't it at least look like something terrible happened?

-Meri

Happy November!

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe not only that they're already playing Christmas commercials on TV, but that they've been playing them for two weeks.

Well, I guess I can believe it since it happens every year. And every year it makes me angry.

Really, they should wait until after Thanksgiving, but can't they wait until at least November 1st? My goodness.

Anyways, back to Halloween. We actually dressed up on Sunday while we had a Hurricane Party in my apartment (said party involved hot chocolate, monstrous amounts of candy, and a viewing of Young Frankenstein).

I was a hipster. Sam had me model in various hipster poses. But first I had to do my usual thumbs up!

Oh, and I dyed my hair. Thanks for helping Sarah!

Sam was a good director.

Eating broccoli out of a jar with chopsticks

Sam and Sarah dressed up as Hallie and Annie from The Parent Trap. They actually did look like twins.

Oreos dipped in peanut butter!

And Michelle dressed up as Liz Lemon from 30 Rock.

A good time was had by all.

Until I had to get the dye out of my hair...

My brush is still bright purple.

-Meri

Hurricane Cookie

Yesterday I sent my mommy a biscotti recipe because it looked good and she is the Queen of Biscotti (in other words, I wanted her to make it so I could eat it).

In fact, the email actually did prompt her to make cookies--just not the ones I sent. She chose to make regular chocolate chip cookies, but she livened them up a bit by using three different kinds of chips: chocolate, butterscotch, and peanut butter, I believe. And she called them Storm Cookies.

Over here in DC I decided to make my own cookie in honor of Sandy so that we could also enjoy some sugary goodness (not that we've been snacking on ten bags of Halloween candy for the past couple of weeks...).

I decided to make a skillet cookie. I love these because I can make it all in one pan. Also because it makes a massive cookie. And who doesn't like a massive cookie? (Sam has been calling it the "face cookie" because it's as big as your face).

Oh, and for some reason, whenever I make a skillet cookie I feel the need to eat it straight out of the skillet with a spoon. Classy, I know.

To mimic my mommy, I used a ton of ingredients to substitute the chocolate chunks.

I used chocolate chips to keep it somewhat familiar.

Then I added mini peanut butter cups, chopped chocolate malt balls, and chopped sea salt caramels.

Yum.

After it was done baking, I let it cool about 15 minutes and then melted Nutella to drizzle over the top.

Yum Yum.

If only hurricanes delivered giant face cookies instead of massive destruction. Life would be so much better.

-Meri

Why You Should Be Watching Nashville

Nashville is a new show that premiered two weeks ago, and I am completely in love with
it. My favorite Entertainment Weekly writer, Annie Barrett, loves it. Meredith’s sister loves it.
But no one in my life loves it, and I’m not entirely sure why. So, in a last-ditch attempt to get my
friends to watch it, I’ve compiled a list of reasons why everyone should be watching Nashville:

1) Connie Britton: Her performance is perfect. And her hair is so wonderful, it has a
Tumblr page dedicated to it: http://conniebrittonshair.tumblr.com/...

2) You don’t have to like country music to watch it! People who aren’t into Broadway
watched Smash (but let’s not talk about that show…), people who aren’t into politics
watched West Wing (I am living proof!), and Nashville provides enough substance
that the country music takes a backseat to the great plotlines.

3) The chemistry between Rayna James and Charles Clayborne: One of the greatest,
most heart-breaking couples to root for currently on television (and it has only been
two episodes)…

4) Maddie and Daphne Conrad: The daughters of Rayna James, played by
YouTube sensations Lennon and Maisy Stella: http://www.youtube.com/results?
search_query=lennon+and+maisy&oq=lennon+an&gs_l=youtube.3.0.0l10.3217.4347
.0.5178.9.8.0.1.1.0.152.698.7j1.8.0...0.0...1ac.1.LD8RxLsH6J8

5) The show manages to make fun of “fake country” singers, like Taylor Swift, which,
as an actual country music fan, is pretty great to watch.

-Sam

Conquering Really Small Endeavors

There are certain culinary undertakings that I am really skeptical of trying. And, it seems as though I am most skeptical of the easiest ventures.

It doesn't matter how many times I see a super-simple recipe for a food product. For some reason, in my head, the process will be extremely hard and laborious.

Culinary endeavor #1: Nut butter.

It's all over the place these days. Every blog has a post about how easy it is to make your own nut butter. What's the point of spending 7 dollars on a jar of almond butter when it's so easy to make your own while saving a few dollars at the same time?

I can't tell you the point. But I can tell you that it's taken me about a year to overcome my strange fear of making my own nut butter. Yesterday, however, I managed to contribute to the modern nut butter-making world of 2012.

I made walnut butter.

And, despite sounding like a broken record at this point--it was SO easy.

All I did was roast the walnuts at 350 degrees for five to seven minutes, let them cool, threw them in the food processor with some kosher salt and let it go. Literally two minutes later I had walnut butter.

It is super yummy. I've been enjoying it spread on pieces of toast. And by the spoonful, of course.

Culinary endeavor #2: Applesauce.

When I went to Sam's house for Easter this past spring, her mommy made homemade applesauce. I was even able to watch the process myself and see how easy it was.

Yet it took me until now to finally try it for myself. Just like the nut butter, it was easy and satisfying.

Just simmer the apples down with sweeteners and spices and blend it up.

Next time you feel intimidated by a recipe, take the time to try it out. It might just surprise you. Or it might just reinforce what everyone has been telling you for twelve consecutive months.

-Meri