Daydreaming of Paris! Oui! Oui!

We booked our flat in Paris!  Our trip is finally coming together and we can't wait to explore the Parisian streets, eat the delicious Parisian food, and fall in love with the city!

We decided to rent a flat instead of booking a hotel so we could be in a neighborhood and have a kitchen.  We're right in the heart of the city, close to Notre Dame, and near an open air market.  All the details are on cobblestay.com.  I found this company on the NY Times travel site and bunches of people recommended it.  I hope it's everything that we're dreaming of...

Easy Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Simple and Delicious.  My favorite kind of recipe.  So here was another hit at Victoria's wedding shower: Funfetti mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

I had never heard of funfetti cake until I met Victoria - it's her signature cake and all-time favorite - so of course I had to make it for the shower.  The issue I have with funfetti with rainbow chip frosting is that it's super sweet.  I thought a classic cream cheese frosting would be just right to even out the sweetness.

My co-worker pointed me to Tasty Kitchen for a simple recipe and I halfed the sugar - it worked perfectly!  Now Michael has made me promise to make this frosting for any and all cakes because he likes it so much!

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/8 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

DIRECTIONS
Beat cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla till smooth. Gradually add heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy.

*The hearts are jumbo sprinkles that I got from A.C. Moore.  I thought they made a cute accessory.

New TV and Couch

We picked up our couch a couple weeks ago and we got our new TV delivered last Thursday.  It doesn't look like much but, trust me, it's such a huge upgrade!  Here is how our life has changed:

• We don't need to get up to turn the TV on and off
• We don't need to get up to turn the volume up and down
• We can actually tell if a channel is in HD
• The middle cushion of our couch doesn't bottom out and scratch the wood floor
• Our overnight guests don't need to sleep on the aerobed anymore!

And to make it even better, we gave the old couch to our resident starving student Steve who is in law school right now, and we're giving our old TV to one of the youth rugby kids! 

Life is good.

Meet Mr. Phalaenopsis

There's been one light in our bathroom that's never worked.  Yes, we tried replacing the bulb, but it was something to do with the light fixture or wiring or something that our landlord needed to take care of (ah, the benefits of renting!).  In any case, it wasn't a big deal so we let it slide for a few years.

Fortunately, our dining room light went out last month and our landlord sent out some electrician dude and Michael asked him to replace the light in the bathroom.  It had to be special ordered so he came back last week while we were at work to install it.  You can't really tell by these pictures but it's a totally different light!

It's like WAY brighter than the other three lights in the bathroom and a total spotlight!  And it's in the worst spot: right on top of all our junk on the little corner shelf!  So of course I'm hosting Victoria's shower in 2 days and mortified that 25 strangers are going to be staring at the layer of dust, stuck-on toothpaste globs, and whatever else I've overlooked after almost three years of not paying attention to the dark corner of our bathroom.

So after scrubbing down the shelf with the help of my extra powerful spotlight, I decided to make lemons out of lemonade.  Now we have our newest plant (and my first orchid since moving to DC): Mr. Phalaenopsis!

It actually makes our bathroom look much more sophisticated and I got bunches of compliments yesterday during the shower.  Thank goodness for Trader Joe's selection of orchids!

Now let's pray I can keep it alive.  I don't have a great track record when it comes to orchids.  Fingers crossed!

Dirty Arnold Palmer

'Tis the season for weddings... and wedding showers!  Yesterday, I had to pleasure of hosting my good friend Victoria's wedding shower and it was a big success.  Whenever I sign up to do this stuff, I always forget how much prep and planning goes into these things.  I am so fortunate to have a wonderful husband that is eager to help out and loves hosting parties as much as I do!  (I'll be posting Michael's red pepper hummus and Camembert fondue recipes later this week - they were quite a hit!)

But let's start off with the signature cocktail: The Dirty Victoria Lawrence.  Well, it's real name is a Dirty Arnold Palmer but we switched it up for the occasion!  It's wonderfully refreshing with a hint of mint and an iced tea base - perfect for a light summer party drink.

INGREDIENTS
Sweet Tea Vodka
Citrus Vodka
A Bunch of Mint
A Bag of Lemons
Unsweetened Ice Tea
Lemonade
Club Soda (or sparking water)
Ice*
*You can use regular ice but Nicole (she's a bartender part-time) made some ice with just water and mint for the look, and also made ice cubes using 1 cup sweet tea vodka and 2 cups water with mint leaves. Optional and a little extra work, but worth it because it's so pretty! 


DIRECTIONS
Fill highball glass with ice.  Put one shot sweet tea vodka and one shot citrus vodka.  Squeeze in 2-3 wedges of lemons (use a lemon press or just make sure you catch all the seeds).  Throw in some mint leaves (maybe about 5 or 6 depending on how big your leaves are and how much you like mint).

Pour into martini shaker... and shake!

Pour back into highball glass and add equal amounts of ice tea, lemonade and club soda.

Serve with a sprig of mint on top.

Here's a photo of Nicole serving up Victoria's signature cocktail at the shower.  Aaaaaaah... refreshing!

Tangy Slaw and Sweet Salmon Glaze

When we get cabbage from the Merschat's garden, I usually make soup.  But with this overwhelmingly hot summer, soup is a 4-letter word when it comes to dinner options.  We're not usually a fan of mayonnaise-based slaw so I found this recipe in Food & Wine for a vinegar and mustard based slaw.  But you can't just eat slaw for dinner so we had some salmon fillets in the freezer and used another Food & Wine recipe to make the soy-maple glaze.  We already had some of our favorite sesame noodles prepared so this combo made for a quick and easy summer meal.

Tangy Cabbage Slaw with Golden Raisins
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or canola oil)
2 tablespoons walnut oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 medium head of green cabbage, shredded (8 cups)
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup snipped chives

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small bowl, soak the raisins in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain, pressing out any liquid.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the red wine vinegar with the whole-grain mustard and sugar. Whisk in the grapeseed (or canola) and walnut oils and season the dressing with salt and pepper. Add the shredded cabbage, carrot, onion, chives and raisins and toss the salad well. Season with salt and pepper and toss the salad again. Refrigerate until chilled, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and serve.

Salmon with Soy-Maple Glaze
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
4 salmon fillets
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 scallions, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large, shallow dish, whisk the soy sauce with the maple syrup and sesame oil. Add the salmon steaks and turn to coat. Press the garlic onto both sides of the fillets. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning the salmon a few times. (We didn't marinade it that long... maybe 20-30 mins)

2. Remove the salmon from the marinade. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and boil over high heat until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Strain the glaze into a small bowl.

3. Pan fry salmon fillets and brush glaze on top. Transfer to plates and spoon remaining glaze onto fillets. Sprinkle with the scallions and serve.

Simplest Dessert: Cobbler

Cobbler.  The easiest last-minute, throw-together, what-to-do-with-all-this-leftover-fruit recipe! 

Last weekend, Michael and I came back from North Carolina with half a basket of DELICIOUS South Carolina peaches.  After we had eaten as much as we could, we had to cut up the rest at the peak of ripeness and put them in the freezer.  Fortunately, our friends Roger and Martha had time to come up for dessert and drinks after we had dinner at 2Amy's (yum!) so we could use a couple of our delicious frozen peaches.

Of course, you can use whatever fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand.  We usually keep a bag of frozen mixed berries or wild blueberries in the freezer just in case we have a cobbler craving!

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! 

INGREDIENTS
1 stick of butter
1 cup of flour (we strongly suggest using Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking & Pancake Mix if you can get it)
1/4 cup rolled oats (optional)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar (can be reduced to 2/3 cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag frozen fruit (or equivalent if using fresh fruit)

DIRECTION
Preheat oven to 425°.
While pre-heating, put the stick of butter in a 9x13 pan and into the oven until butter is melted.

Mix together the flour, oatmeal, milk, sugar, and vanilla.  It should be a pretty thin batter (similar to pancake batter) but if it's too runny, just put a little more flour in.  Now take the pan with the melted butter out of the oven and pour the batter into the butter.  Take your fruit and sprinkle it over the top.

Put it back in the oven and bake at 425° until golden brown (usually 30-35 minutes depending on oven temperature).  Just make sure the center is cooked.  The edges will be crispy and delicious.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

It's hot.  Really hot.  The kind of hot that makes you wonder how people live without air conditioning.

Today's a little cooler than yesterday.  Right now it's only 97 degrees with a heat index of 105 degrees.  Refreshing!

But the good thing about all this hot, humid, and record-setting summer weather is the great storms we've been getting in the evenings.  The photo above was taken on our balcony and, as you can see, the storm was isolated on top of the Nathional Cathedral with a little rainbow separating the gray and blue skies!  This scene literally only lasted about 30 seconds so I'm glad we had our camera handy.

We only stepped out on a balcony for 5 minutes today to water the plants and pick tomatoes and that was enough for me.  Now it's time to make a salad!

Bugs Bite

It's the time of year again... and I'm a mosquito magnet.  Well, I'm actually an equal opportunity bug bite magnet... if there's an insect that bites, it will be on my body.

So it's not surprising that I'm always looking for remedies to fight the itch!  This article in apartment therapy claims bar soap works!  Hmmm... who knew?  But the comments are a treasure trove of good suggestions!  Nail polish, ice, and vitamin B... I've heard of those remedies and they haven't worked well for me, but I'm interested to try onions, wilted cabbage or ammonia!

It's Not All Downhill After 30

July has been a whirlwind month so I'm sorry for the lack in blog posts.  We've been down in North Carolina trying to help out with Mama Merschat and we're very happy to hear she'll be coming home today (whew!).

So on a MUCH MUCH lighter note, I've been totally dreading my 30th birthday in a few months and was relieved when I stumbled across this article claiming women are 'at their most beautiful' at 31!

You have to love these British studies!

Women in their late 20s and early 30s are considered more attractive than fresh-faced eighteen and nineteen year olds, researchers found.

The findings, from a survey of the opinions of over 2,000 men and women, found that beauty was as much rooted in personality as appearance.

Celebrities currently at the prime age of 31 include TV presenter Christine Bleakley, Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon and Danielle Lineker.

The average British woman is already married with children by her thirties.

When asked when women are at their most attractive, more people picked 31 than any other age.

Beauty was defined as being confident by 70 per cent of respondents, having good looks by 67 per cent and being stylish by 47 per cent.

This makes the upcoming 3-0 a little more tolerable!!

Farrell/Merschat Joint Family Vacation 2010

Just posted some pictures from our first Farrell/Merschat Family vacation last month here.  Mount Diablo, Chinatown, Yosemite, Tide Pools, Napa Valley and San Francisco... we did as much of Northern California as we could and I think we can call this trip a huge success!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Sweet Nectar of Summer: Sangria

This weekend of 4th of July party hopping is the perfect time to whip up a batch of my famous Sangria.  Over many years of adding more fruit and trying new juice combinations, here's a Sangria recipe that is always a crowd-pleaser (originally taken from epicurious.com)

INGREDIENTS
5 bottles of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon "Two Buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's work well)
1/2 cup brandy
1/4 cup Cointreau or Triple Sec
1 quart mango nectar (make mango ice cubes if you have leftover juice)
1 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 quart chilled lemon-lime soda
Thinly sliced fruit of your choice: Apples, oranges, limes, any type of melon, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, grapes (cut in half), peaches... you get the idea.  (This weekend I'm using watermelon, oranges, lemons, strawberries, blueberries, nectarines and grapes.)

DIRECTIONS
Note: The longer you let the fruit sit in the wine, the yummier it turns out.  I'm starting 2 days in advance.

Slice all the fruit.

Pour wine, liquor, juice and sugar into large bowl.  Stir.  Add fruit. (If you don't have a lot of room in your fridge - like me - I found that you can just pour 2-3 bottles into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and just put it in the fridge.  Put the remaining bottles of wine in the fridge too so they are chilled when you add them to the punch bowl or cooler just before serving.)

Add lemon-lime soda and ice cubes right before serving.

Garnish wine glasses with with extra fruit or mint sprigs and serve to family, friends, and most importantly YOURSELF!

The Lost Symbol

With all the traveling to and from California for the very successful and fun Farrell/Merschat Family Vacation (more about that in a future post), I finally got to reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol that Aunt Arlene gave me for Christmas!  Overall, I'd give it a 7 out of 10 and would recommend it to any Dan Brown fans out there, but I still think Angels and Demons is still the best of the Robert Langdon series.

Don't get me wrong, The Lost Symbol is very entertaining (until the last 100 pages, which really dragged and left nothing to the imagination) and introduced very interesting concepts like noetic science and superstring theory.  But I think the formula was getting a little old after you've read the previous books and I feel like it read too much like he was writing the screenplay simultaneously.  That's pretty nit-picky but it crossed my mind more than a few times in the last part of the book.

And of course the best part of the book was that it was set in Washington, DC!  The House of the Temple is actually a block from where my knitting group meets and where my bus drops off.  I've always wanted to tour the place!  And it incorporates so much history of our founding fathers and of the government buildings and monuments, that's always so interesting and a Dan Brown trademark.  Can you imagine how much research he must have to do?

All in all, it's a solid, entertaining read and it was the perfect fun summer read for the trip!  Thanks again, Aunt Arlene!

Already Daydreaming About Wine Country

You can't visit northern California and not spend at least one day in wine country!

Fortunately, Michael's good friend "Schieffer" works just north of Napa at a family-owned winery in Rutherford named Honig.  We've heard great things about this winery and are really looking forward to the V.I.P. tour and tasting.

Also, Ming-Cee and Pat will be getting married in Sonoma next May and so we must to stop by the wedding location at Larson Family Winery.  Michael and I haven't seen the place yet and it's our duty to taste the wine before the wedding, right?

And if we have time, we'd love to stop by Schramsberg again.  Our good friends Jen and Drew went wine tasting with us a couple years ago and this was my favorite.  Mmmm... sipping sparkling wine in the summertime is so refreshing and fun!  Can't wait!

Already Daydreaming About Mount Diablo

Mount Diablo State Park is another East Bay gem that I'd love to show Mom and Dad Merschat (and Michael) next week.  Although the air quality most days isn't clear enough (especially in the summer), Mt. Diablo has one of the largest viewsheds in the Western United States so you can see the Golden Gate on one side and the Sierra Nevadas on the other side.  Plus it's a short trip from our house and the drive or hike up the mountain is always fun to do.

One of the things I truly miss about California is the Valley Oak.  I love the way they speckle the hillsides and there definitely isn't a shortage of my favorite trees on Mt. Diablo.

If you want to see some great sunset photos and pictures of flora and fauna on Mt. Diablo, check out this guy's Flikr page.

I grew up thinking Mt. Diablo meant Devil's Mountain because it turns a deep red when the sun sets (that makes sense, right?).  But according to the Save Mt. Diablo website, I was mistaken:

Like many other isolated peaks, Mount Diablo is steeped in lore -- much of it involving the mountain's name. The reference to "diablo" or devil can be traced back to 1805, when Spanish military troops searched for runaway mission Indians. At a willow thicket near present-day Buchanan Field in Concord, the soldiers encountered a camp of Chupcan people and surrounded it. During that night, the Indians escaped unseen and unheard.

Angry and confused, the Spanish called the site, "Monte del Diablo", or "Thicket of the Devil". Later, English-speaking newcomers mistakenly assumed the word "monte" meant "mountain" and applied the title to the prominent nearby peak. A linguistic accident thus gave California its Devil Mountain.

Hmmm... so interesting!

Already Daydreaming About Tide Pools

One of my favorite field trips in elementary school was to the tide pools down near Half Moon Bay.  I hope we have enough time to take Mom and Dad Merschat (and Michael) to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve during low tide one day so they can explore all the neat anemones, urchins, crabs, star fish, and all the other neat things in the crevices of the rocky pools.

As the famous author and bay area resident John Steinbeck wrote in the The Log from the Sea of Cortez:
"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."

I think that really captures the beauty, diversity and intrinsic fascination people get when they walk along the tide pools.  I can't wait for vacation!!!

Already Daydreaming About Yosemite

At this time next week, we'll be on our way to Yosemite as part of our first (and I hope not our last) Farrell/Merschat joint family vacation!

Mom and Dad Merschat will be flying out Wednesday to stay with Mom and Dad Farrell and we'll be showing them San Francisco, Yosemite and Napa... with a smattering of other bay area points of interest.  Plus, Ming-Cee and Pat will be home for Father's Day too!!  Full House!

What I'm really excited about is the report of peak waterfall flows due to the snowmelt that started last week and will continue through July!  The waterfalls can be pretty dry by late June so we are very fortunate to have the snow cooperate with our vacation this year!

If you haven't noticed, I can't wait for vacation... but in the mean time, there's a lot of work to get done before I take off for a week.  Back to reality...

Quick and Easy Stuffed Pear in Puff Pastry

This is really quick and easy to make with ingredients you already have in your kitchen - that's why I decided to try it and it was SO worth it.

So here was the situation:
- Accidentally bought puff pastry 6 months ago and it's just been sitting in the freezer
- Forgot about the two pears in the crisper drawer from 2 weeks ago
- Needed to make dessert because our friend Steve was coming over for dinner and to watch Tennessee Rugby 7s

A google search later, I found this Greek recipe for Ahlathia me Sfoliata and it sounded delicious, quick and easy - Perfect!

INGREDIENTS
2 pre-cut 4 to 6 inch circles of puff pastry (or 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry) defrosted
1 pear
1 tablespoon of raisins (about 20-22 raisins)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of melted butter
tiny amount (tip of a teaspoon) of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of brandy (we used burbon because that's what we had)
1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
If using a sheet of puff pastry, unfold when fully defrosted to room temperature (about 20-30 mins), and cut two 4-to-6 inch circles out of the pastry using a bowl (or other tool) as a guide. The size of the circles isn't important - they just need to be large enough to leave a little rim of dough around the pear.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Combine raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon, brandy, and melted butter in a small bowl and mix to combine completely until the liquid is fully absorbed. The filling will be moist and stick together nicely.

Peel pears and cut in half, lengthwise. Scoop out hard core and seeds, and fill the cavities with the filling. Pat filling in, and place each pear half on top of a pastry circle, centered, filling side down.

Score the tops of the pear halves in several places (to prevent their breaking open during baking), and, optionally, cut the edges of the pastry that extend out from the bottom for a decorative touch.  (You can use a knife or scissors to make little cuts into the pastry all the way around the pear).

Sprinkle a little granulated sugar over the top and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350°F (175°C) for 15-25 minutes, until pastry is nicely browned (baking time will depend on individual ovens). The pastry will puff up (hence, the name) around the pear.

Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream and you won't regret it!

Our Balcony Garden: June Update

It's been about a month since we started our little balcony garden so I thought it was time for a little update!  The big experiment was the homemade, all-recycled materials self-irrigated planters for the tomatoes.  

BEFORE

AFTER

WOW!  Yes, I would call that a success!  The great thing about these DIY planters is that they don't dry out in between waterings.  The real test is the taste test... so I hope these babies spit out some delicious tomatoes.

Unfortunately, we lost our cucumber plant.  I was a little over zealous in my homemade organic aphid spray and killed the plant faster than the aphids did.  Oh well.  The zuchinni is doing fabulous and we even have a little baby squash popping out!

Another first time plant was the malabar spinach.  As you can see, it's doing really well ever since the summer heat started.  The vine grows a couple inches each day.  It's amazing!

We got our first batch of rasberries this week!  Delicious with vanilla ice cream... mmmmm...

Our herb jar is doing surprisingly well too!  The only thing struggling is the tarragon and we LOVE the eucalyptus herb.

Just look at the beautiful color in the leaves and the wonderful eucalyptus fragrance... one of my new favorites!

The lavender did better this year than last year and we've already seen lots of honey bees and hummingbirds take advantage of the pretty purple blossoms!

The strawberries are doing ok.  I think it may be too early to tell - this is another first-year experiment plant.  At least they're flowering - that's good, right?

And last but not least, our Big Mama aloe has been moved outside and has been re-potted.  She gave us five baby aloes this spring so let's hope for a few more baby aloes by the end of fall.

And that's it for now.  Let's hope the next garden update post is the taste test!

Truffle Tremor - A New Favorite

We were first introduced to Cypress Grove cheese when we feel in love with Humbolt Fog a few years ago.  It's always our go-to cheese for parties or potlucks because everyone loves it.  Over the years, we've also tried Purple Haze and just their regular chevre logs but Humbolt Fog has always been our favorite... but now there's competition!

So yesterday, we were checking out the new Whole Foods right across the street from Michael's office and as I was perusing the cheeses, the Truffle Tremor caught my eye.  We definitely spoiled our dinner last night... and it was worth it!  If you like creamy goat cheese with a light truffle flavor, you must try this cheese.  You won't regret it.