Adventures in food + travel

Definitely with Extra Butter

In Baking, Julie on July 27, 2009 at 9:33 pm

I saw this post last week on Epicute.com, and immediately wanted to try making these cupcakes. So yesterday afternoon I set a few hours aside to bake and decorate. I wanted to try a new cake recipe out of Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes (a fantastic book for ridiculously good recipes and oodles of decorating ideas). I chose a “Snickerdoodle Cupcake” recipe, which had a nice shot of cinnamon and sugar in the batter. While the cupcakes were cooling (and our house officially smelled amazing), I set to work trying to recreate the white and red striped cups for the cupcakes to nestle into.

I coated the inside of a foil cupcake liner with white chocolate, and then set them in the freezer. The hard part was trying to carefully carefully carefully peel the foil away from the chocolate. I attempted about 10 of these, and only got 6 or 7 passable ones. The others cracked apart in the process. I then melted some red candy coating and piped lines onto the white chocolate cups. After I nestled in a cupcake into the candy cup, I piped on some vanilla buttercream frosting, tinted with a bit of yellow food coloring.

And while far from perfect, I think a few came out pretty good, or at least close enough to see what I was going for!

Plan B

In Julie, Miscellaneous on July 25, 2009 at 9:45 pm

Two days ago I received an email from our friend Rachel, saying her and Robert were free this weekend, and wondering if we were too. And amazingly enough, we were. We planned to get together for dinner tonight – hot dogs and s’mores over the campfire. Well, the weather forecast did not cooperate with us, with rain showers coming through every half hour. Instead, we broiled the hot dogs, used the blow torch to cook the marshmallows (how did I miss getting a picture of that?!), and then headed down to the bowling alley to pass the evening together.

Justin was still riding high from miraculously beating Trav while bowling in Houston, and was unprepared for the bowling genius that Robert & Rachel brought forth. But yet, once again, somehow he pulled a load of strikes out of who-knows-where during the last two frames of each game and came out ahead, the weasel.

Basement Treasures

In Julie, Retro on July 24, 2009 at 9:35 pm

Justin and I sorted a bunch of boxes of miscellaneous memories and (let’s face it) junk out of our basement earlier in the week. While quite a bit went into the trash bin, we did happen upon a few interesting finds. Together in a box with Justin’s high school yearbooks and sweet t-ball photos, was a black garbage bag with about 20 OLD newspapers in it, passed to him from his grandparents. We were distracted for quite awhile as we carefully opened them and read some of the headlines, stories and ads.

This headline definitely caught our eye. Though we were both a bit stunned when we read closer, and realized this newspaper is from 1918, at the end of the First World War.

There were also several newspapers from World War II, proclaiming the attack at Pearl Harbor,

and later, victory in Europe.

The ads also caught our eye. Certainly a different day and age!

And are all you ladies sitting up properly?

After putting the papers carefully into a slightly better storage container, we’re planning on getting several framed, in order to display these interesting glimpses from the past.

Cupcakes Galore!

In Baking, Julie on July 22, 2009 at 3:56 pm

I think cupcakes are becoming my favorite baked items to make in the kitchen. I love the different ways to decorate them as well as the built-in “cuteness factor.” These cupcakes were made to fill several different needs, but mainly to help our friends Diane and Aaron choose some flavors for their fast-approaching August wedding.

This tray includes Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Peanut Butter Frosting, Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Swiss Buttercream Frosting, Cherry Almond Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting, and Double Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd and Lemon Buttercream Frosting.

Funniest Picture Ever.

In Julie, Miscellaneous on July 20, 2009 at 11:17 pm

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.

I think that is what I look like when I eat cookies too.

More Interesting Snacks

In Julie, Snacks, Taste Test on July 17, 2009 at 9:01 pm

The last few days I’ve been busy making cake pops, making phone calls, and making DVD’s, none of which I took a photo of (do you want a picture of our phone? Because I’ll do it, mind you, if you clamor loud enough!). So instead I thought I’d post a few more reviews of interesting international snacks we’ve tried a bit ago, but haven’t written about yet.

The first is another snack food from New Zealand, that Travis was kind enough to share with us. ”Lonely God Potato Twists” are very unusual, but highly addicting. They are shaped like spiral pasta, have the flavor reminiscent of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, but with the texture of puffed rice. It was very easy to eat a handful of these, and still be left with the feeling that you really hadn’t eat anything at all.

Next up was an even more addicting candy from Peru, which our friend Jenn brought Justin back from her recent trip there. And we were fully prepared to get addicted to it, as it was rightfully named “Crack”. One type had a crunchy chocolate center coated in chocolate, while they other type was a crunchy peanut center coated in chocolate. Yep, those two bags didn’t last too long once they were opened!

Jenn also brought Justin a Nestle Sublime chocolate bar, but he turned his back for a moment and somehow it tripped and fell into my mouth. It happened so suddenly, in fact, that I kind of think Justin forgot it was even there. They are oh so tasty, and I remembered them from my time in Peru. Similar to a Mr. Goodbar, but with better chocolate.

In all – fun, delicious treats. Much more successful than the last taste test!

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Triple Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

In Baking, Julie on July 14, 2009 at 5:05 pm

In my binders and cookbooks and files, I think I have at least 15 different chocolate chip cookie recipes. And that is for plain-Jane, regular chocolate chip cookies. Of those 15, I’ve narrowed it down to just one go-to recipe that I make consistently, and always love the result. But today I was feeling a bit antsy, and felt like trying yet another new (to me) one, which I’ve had clipped from an old issue of Martha Stewart Living. I tweaked the recipe a little bit, based on what I had on hand, and the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of walnuts in cookies – macadamia nuts sounded soooo much better when I spied them in the freezer. And now I should say, this recipe is has a lot of similarities to my other favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but the slight differences in amounts of sugar and type of flour changes the result in a way that I’m more partial to. I like the caramelized sugar crunch on the edges of the cookie, with a remarkably tender, chewy interior. And goodness gracious, those macadamia nuts make just about everything better!

Triple Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart Living

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Coarse Sea Salt

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, slat, and baking soda; set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Turn off heat and add both sugars; whisk until combined. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl, and let cool to room temperature.
2. Whisk egg, egg yolk, and vanilla into butter mixture. Fold in flour mixture until just combined. Fold in chips and nuts. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using an ice cream or 1/4 cup cookie scoop, place golf-ball-size mounds of dough 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Sprinkle a small amount of sea salt on top of each mound of dough. Bake until cookies are lightly golden brown and the tops no longer look wet, 12-15 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled. Store in an airtight container.

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Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

In Baking, Julie on July 13, 2009 at 7:45 pm

You want to know my least favorite line when reading through a recipe? “Let cool completely before cutting.” What kind of ridiculousness is that?! They’re brownies, for heaven’s sake! Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies! It took every ounce of self-control just to get the pan with the batter into the oven. And now I am supposed to wait until they are completely cooled? I’m not Super Woman.

Chocolate batter. Crimeny.

Peanut Butter filling. Just a taste, please?

Swirling… (licking the knife is acceptable, right?)

oh-so-close to just digging into this with a spoon…

Finally… out of the oven!

But NO!

Directions tell me I have to wait to cut them until cooled. I usually like following the rules. I like the order, organization, and calm that results from following rules.

But this rule is dumb.

And now I need some milk!

Natalie and Paul’s Wedding

In Justin, Travel on July 12, 2009 at 10:20 am

Yesterday we took a trip down to Milwaukee to go to Julie’s cousin Paul’s wedding. The ceremony was nice, in a cool Catholic cathedral, and Julie made sure I behaved myself during the entire thing. We ate at a Wendy’s beforehand that had the air conditioner set on “Arctic Blast” - it was wonderful. Julie’s Aunt Jean tried to make herself sleeves out of napkins.

Julie's cousin Alison and her boyfriend Brent

Julie's cousin Allison and her boyfriend Brent

We spent some time handing around outside the church and then went back in as family groups for large family pictures.

Julie and her crazy Uncle Richard

The reception was at the Bavarian Inn (can’t get much more “Milwaukee” than that). I went back to the hotel to check in and then went to the reception hall to help Julie set up her centerpieces of cake pops. Julie made a little more than 500 cake pops to be used at the wedding, instead of a large wedding cake. She also made a small carrot cake that could be cut by the bride and groom. All were excellent.

There was no "smashing"

Dinner was actually one of the best wedding meals I think we have had. Beforehand they had sausage, cheese and fruit platters out, and then the meals started. The beginning salad was average, but the entrees were much better than typical wedding fare. Julie had a flatiron steak with rice that was very good, and I had the “Bavarian chicken” meal. It was 3 huge pieces of chicken – a leg, a wing, and a breast. The chicken was moist and really flavorful.

I had the "Bavarian chicken dinner" HUGE!

After dinner, they cleared tables out and fired up the dance. I went into the bar and watched the end of the Brewer game and talked to Julie, her mom Carol, and her Uncle Greg and Aunt Ruth. Julie’s cousins Allison and Laura and their boyfriends Brent and Jared were in and out depending on the song. It was actually a pretty raucous dance, which was nice. Sometimes wedding dances can lack energy and feel kind of “dead”, and this was definitely not the case. Overall it was a great weekend.

The Seubert clan - Laura, Tomis, Ruth, Greg, and Allison

Jared and Laura dancing the night away. Jared's moves were awe inspiring

Retro post!

In Justin, Retro, Travel on July 9, 2009 at 4:33 pm

For our first anniversary (in 2003), Julie and I took a trip from Seattle, where we were living, up to Vancouver B.C. We stayed right downtown at a Comfort Inn and Suites. It didn’t look the greatest on the outside, but the inside of the hotel had just been redone and was very nice.

Comfort Inn and Suites

We pretty much walked everywhere we went. Our favorite spot to go was Stanley park. It was kind of a long walk from our hotel, but there’s plenty to look at on the trek. At the park, we visited totem poles and the aquarium, where they have Beluga whales that perform a couple of times a day

Beluga butt

Julie, enjoying the Beluga performance

Diving dolphin

Julie and a turtle

Julie, with her head in a bubble

Most of our time was just spent exploring the Vancouver area. It’s really surprising to see how much bigger than Seattle Vancouver is. There’s tons of natural beauty to take in.

Me and a fountain

One of the days we were there, we took a trip out to the Cleveland Dam. It really is an impressive site. It’s not quite like the Hoover Dam, but the scenery is much nicer.

Me and Cleveland

The lake at the top of the dam

Looking down

At the bottom

Overall, we had a blast, and it was really nice to get away. We did end up eating our leftover wedding cake we had kept frozen for a year. Not the greatest, but if you douse it in enough cherry pie filling it was at least mostly edible. Oh, and here’s a picture of me in a giant tree:

Take me out to the ball game…

In Julie, Miscellaneous on July 8, 2009 at 3:34 pm

The Sidewinders in the dugout in between innings.

One new thing Justin and I have enjoyed doing this summer is taking in a number of Maureen King’s softball games. The softball fields are a few blocks from our house, and walking down to the field and taking in a game with Jim, Jenn, and Madie has been a great way to pass the gorgeous summer evenings.

Madie decided that Justin was a suitable alternative to a chair.

Maureen’s team is the Sidewinders. We’ve seen losses and victories, and they were able to eek out a win against the Bats last night, 4-3.

Maureen talking to Jenn before the game.

Back in Wisconsin

In Justin, Travel on July 6, 2009 at 9:41 pm

We are definitely currently wanting more Houston. It’s nice to be back in Wisconsin, but I think Julie and I would have liked some more time spent in Houston. There is a surprising amount of stuff to do and explore, and we look forward to going back. Travel back to Madison was much better than going to Houston last week. No delays and smooth flights.

Here are some photos that didn’t make it in the first time through:

Making bars

Trav and Emily bowling

Emily hoping for a spare

Katie's game face, with Shawn and Emily

Katie giving the stare down at sushi

My lovely wife

Trav, deep in thought

I'm extremely photogenic

Me and Katie discussing the finer points of the "Bird Apocalypse"

Katie and I discussing the finer points of the "Bird Apocalypse"

At Central Market

I had to embarass Trav one more time

Last full day in Houston

In Justin, Travel on July 5, 2009 at 10:55 pm

Today was our last full day in Houston, and it was a little slower than the previous days, which was definitely a good thing, as Julie and I are starting to tucker out a bit. Today we started out at the Ecclesia plant in the Woodlands where Katie and Emily go to church. It is a very cool church, currently housed in a space rented on Sunday mornings from another church. They have a separate building that was originally used for just the youth. The worship was definitely nice and loud and contemporary and the pastor had a good message.

After church we went back to Katie and Emily’s apartment for lunch and some time in the pool. Trav is nursing a sunburn, so he wanted to wear a T-shirt in the pool to make sure it didn’t get any worse, but he forgot to bring one to their apartment, so he borrowed one from Emily. His first attempt at finding the correct shirt didn’t go too well.

This will haunt your dreams

Luckily, he found something more appropriate and we got to hang out in the pool and then headed back to the Maddock’s for Tikka Masala – a new recipe recommended by Maggie and Beth, from the Pioneer Woman. This was a fantastic recipe and is something you should try immediately. Tonight we are turning in early, as we have a full day of travel back to Stevens Point tomorrow. I wish we could stay longer….

Houston, day 3

In Justin, Travel on July 5, 2009 at 1:07 am

Today was another packed day in Houston. We got up and ate breakfast and talked with Joann and Jim for a little while and then met some friends of Emily and Katie (Joe, Allison, Ashley), and Emily’s cousin Shawn and went to downtown Houston for the afternoon. The first stop was a place called Central Market, where we got an infamous sandwich. Julie mentioned this same sandwich when she was here in March. Definitely worth the pilgrimage. This was another crazy cool market with all sorts of specialty foods, including an entire row of olives, and tiny pineapples.

Olives

Mini pineapples

We got our sandwiches, ate them at the store, and then transitioned over to the Fine Art Museum. At only $7 ($3.50 for students like Trav), it was definitely worth it. They had tons of historical and regional art, and although Julie and I aren’t exactly art experts, there was new stuff to look at and appreciate, and recognizable artists like Monet and Pollock. Very cool to see this stuff in person.

There was tons of sculptures from 1000 B.C to 500 A.D., and it was really cool to see art that old. There was also a ton of religious art from Italy, 1400-1700 or so. The next picture is extremely sacrilegious, but I just couldn’t resist giving Jesus a high five. Can’t leave a Savior hanging like that.

I know, I know.....

The artwork was pretty amazing throughout. I definitely liked the more modern, stylized stuff better than the older art.

"The Elder Sister" Her eyes follow you around the room - creepy...

Keanu, is that you?

Julie liked this one

The art museum is actually stretched between two separate buildings, with an art installation “tunnel” connecting them.

After the art museum, it was back to the Woodlands for a dinner at the Guadalajara. I had empanadas to start, and beef tacos for the main course. Julie had an enchilada and a tamale. All pretty good, with a definite Tex Mex slant to things.

The group at dinner

Trav and Emily at dinner

Empanadas

Tacos

After dinner it was off to the Target parking lot to watch fireworks. It was kind of weird that everyone sat in the parking lot to watch the show, but it definitely was a good vantage point. Katie had the best seat in the house.

Preshow entertainment

Katie's seat for the fireworks

Overall another jam packed day. Kind of went south at the end as Trav, Emily, Katie and Julie watched “One Tree Hill” and I was stuck having to endure it. I am still bitter, but I consider it payback for the “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus” debacle.

Houston, day 2

In Justin, Travel on July 4, 2009 at 12:02 am

The crew

Today was another awesome day in Houston. This morning, Julie made French toast for everyone while Trav and I played the Wii. I totally whooped him at curling and figure skating. We then went to the pool and hung out for a few hours in the water and thoroughly enjoyed the hot weather. For dinner, we went out for sushi at “Uni Sushi”, in downtown “The Woodlands”, the community where Emily and Katie live. We had a few rolls and some tuna sashimi.

Our two rolls - "Yuka", and "Crazy". The "Yuka" roll was extremely good.

Tuna sashimi

Trav and Emily doing good with chopsticks

After dinner we went to the “Hubbel & Hudson” grocery store. One nice thing about larger cities is the variety of things offered in grocery stores, and the availability of “boutique” stores like this one. The inside was packed with all sorts of specialty foods and was fun to walk through

The inside of the store

In addition to the main store area, they have a second floor dedicated to a cooking classroom. There was a “date night” class going on that had a “Rio de Janiero” theme tonight.

Cooking classroom

We grabbed some after dinner treats and headed down to a nice area by a man-made river area and hung out for a little while

Water taxi

Part of the treats we got were some specialty sodas that I hadn’t had a chance to try yet. So, here’s a mini-taste test of the selection we grabbed.

Soda selection

The first one I tried was the Fentiman’s “Curiosity Cola”. This one intrigued me because it was pretty expensive ($3), and because it is a “fermented soda”, it actually had a small alcohol content (<1%). This one was easily the best of the bunch, with a really nice, sweet cola flavor, reminiscent of Boylan’s, but a little less fizzy and easier to drink. I would drink one of these every day, if it was available. It also had a really cool shaped bottle.

Trav, investigating the Fentiman's Curiosity Cola

While we watched TV (Wipeout again) tonight, I divvied up the others for people to try. Fitz’s Cream Soda was up next, and it was a pretty weak offering. It wasn’t very creamy and had kind of a weak taste that definitely wasn’t appealing. I would not recommend this one.

The “oogave Watermelon Cream” went over better, and Julie actually liked this one. Normally Julie doesn’t like any of the weird sodas that I pick out for us to try, but she didn’t mind this one. It was definitely not my favorite, as it was very pink (girly), and didn’t taste all that great.

The “Kutztown Red Cream Soda” was pretty standard red cream soda. It wasn’t disappointing, but it didn’t really stand out as above average at all.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with the Fentiman’s, and the Kutztown one wasn’t bad either, but I would personally avoid the other two.

Deep in the heart of Texas

In Justin, Travel on July 3, 2009 at 1:22 am

We finally made it to Houston. After some travel troubles and switching of planes in Dallas, we made it into Houston last night a couple of hours later than planned. After some time spent talking, laughing, and enjoying an absolutely ridiculous movie, we got some much needed rest and enjoyed the day today.

Today started with a quick breakfast (at 11 AM) and then an afternoon spent lounging in the pool at Emily and Katie’s apartment complex. It was well over 100 degrees today, so the time in the water was definitely appreciated. We then ran some errands, grabbed some lunch fixings, and spent the rest of the time before dinner hanging out in the apartment watching some TV and Emily and Julie whipped up some bars.

Next we were off to pizza, with myself, Julie, Trav, Emily, Katie, Emily’s cousin Shawn, and Emily’s parents Jim and Joann. The pizza was great, and we followed it up with a couple of games of bowling at a local bowling alley.

Bowling!

I warmed up my “strike pose”, and we were off with two games of guys versus girls. Turns out the girls had a faulty score machine that kept giving them pins they didn’t knock down, so it wasn’t much of a fair fight, but the guys still managed to eak out a couple of wins.

Me, practicing my "strike pose"

Joann celebrating a shot

Jim's "game face"

Katie ready to knock down some pins

My main achievement for the night was to beat Trav in the second game. For those of you who don’t know, Trav is somewhat of a bowling savant. His friends in NZ have deemed him the Rain Man of bowling, so to manage to beat him at bowling meant two things – he had to not bowl to his best game, and I had to bowl a near flawless one. Here’s the scorecard to prove it (He’s N, and I am V). The turkey I had definitely helped.

Booyah!

It definitely was a heated battle, with a lot of gamesmanship and intimidation used to try to throw the other team off. Here was are at the end making sure Emily feels the full pressure of the situation.

The bridge of doom

We finished up the night with a couple of episodes of Wipeout, to cap off an absolutely fun-filled day.