A simple radish appetizer

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I purchased some radishes at the St. Paul Farmer's Market on Saturday and wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Erik loves radishes and will be eat them raw/plain but I wanted to do something a bit more interesting. This simple recipe is inspired by a post I recently saw on The Kitchn (an awesome food blog I visit regularly) but I didn't have all the ingredients (who the hell has Boursin cheese on hand?) so I substituted what I had.

Radish and Cream Cheese Bites

Any kind of bread
5-6 radishes, cut up into thin slices
Cream cheese
Dill (fresh or dried)

Cut bread into 2inch by 2inch squares ( I actually used these really good multi-grain rolls I bought at the Mpls Farmer's Market on Thursday but any bread will do). Arrange bread slices on a plattter. Spread cream cheese on each piece of bread, top with 2-3 slices of radishes and sprinkle lightly with dill.

As simple as these sound, they were a huge hit. The radish and cream cheese taste great together and radishes have such a great refreshing flavor and awesome crunch. Best part is they are in season right now in MN. These would also be really great made into little tea sandwiches.

Date night with my honey at Cafe Ena

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Erik and I had our first date night in a long time last Friday evening. We have a lot of great dinners at home, but there is something really special about going out. We used to do it all the time, probably too much, when we first started dating about four and a half years ago, but we'd go to places like Old Chicago and Champps, casual dinners where we'd drink beer and always order nachos as an appetizer. Did I mention I gained about 10 pounds those first six months?

Fast forward a few years and we became a bit more sophisticated and began going out to eat less and when we did, it would generally be for special occasions. Some of favorite restaurants over the years are Lucias in Uptown (both of us), Cafe Lurcat (me), Manny's (Erik), El Meson (both) and Cafe Ena (both). We've actually only been to Cafe Ena twice but it holds very special meaning because it is the restaurant we ate at the night we got engaged in September 07. We had a great meal on the patio and afterwards took a walk and Erik proposed on a sidewalk on a street in South Minneapolis. It was proposal perfection.

Our date on Friday began with drinks at Figlio in Uptown and then we had an amazing meal at Cafe Ena. Cafe Ena is an adorable, small restaurant on 46th and Grand in Minneapolis. It serves latin fusion food that is delicious and bursts with flavor. I started with split pea soup with proscuitto (this might sound weird, but I LOVE split pea soup, it has a bad reputation, but in reality is velvety and delicious) and then I had proscuitto wrapped grouper. Erik had a caesar salad and jambalaya. We shared a bottle of Riesling. I'm actually not a huge fan of sweet white wine, but anytime Erik is willing to have wine with me I let him choose and he can only handle sweet whites. I have hope he will come around.

Me, a bottle of wine deep...

Weddings and budgets

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I received an anonymous comment the other day on my wedding post below and wanted to address it. Someone inquired about the budget of my wedding. I am very open to sharing my budget, if you are interested, please email me at eatdrinkpretty@gmail.com and I'll send you my (very detailed and nerdy) excel spread sheet broken out by element (reception, flowers, attire, etc).

It's easy to get lost in a beautiful wedding magazine or image on theknot.com and dream about having a great wedding, but in reality, how much do you really have to spend? Weddings are not cheap and the more people in attendance the higher the cost. I had a fairly large wedding (210 people) but Erik and I were in our late 20's when we got married and decided on a budget we were comfortable with and could afford (kind of).

I like elements of weddings that are DIY and contain a personal touch. The most important thing is to prioritize which elements are the most important to you and your fiance and spend the budget accordingly. I didn't want to be limited in the decor area or food/booze. I wanted amazing centerpieces with crystals and tons of candles and it was important to us to serve a decent amount of hosted liquor (which ran out faster than we could have imagined), butler passed horsd d'oeurves and steak for dinner. Because we splurged a bit in those areas, I DIY'd all the paper products (invites, rehearsal dinner invites, menu cards, place cards and table numbers).

What is missing in the market is a website or magazine that is completely transparent on wedding budgets. All brides love looking at real weddings, but what if you are drooling over a wedding that is $150,000? Photos from a $20,000 photographer sure look pretty, but how attainable is that for most brides?

Anyway, email me and I'll send you my budget spreadsheet. No matter what your thoughts are on how much I spent on my wedding, I honestly believe that a beautiful wedding can be achieved on any budget.

My splurge: pretty flowers/decor. Photo credits to Sewell Photography.

Wedding love

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If you've been reading my blog then you know I am really into weddings. I enjoyed every single second of being engaged, being a bride and planning my wedding. It was a creative, fun process and though some couples find it difficult to agree, Erik and I got along like a dream during planning, mostly because when I would ask, "Honey, what do you think of this cake/centerpiece/dj/tux/etc?" He would nod his head and say "yes dear, looks good".

So you can imagine my excitement when the editor of Mpls St. Paul Magazines - Weddings edition contacted me and wanted to feature my wedding on their website. It's not exactly as cool as being in the magazine, but whatever. I know pretty much every bride uses the web for inspiration and I hope my wedding can serve as inspiration to other brides out there. And of course I am quoted talking about the food/booze we served! Click here to see the whole piece.

Company Crush

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Is it possible to have an actual crush on a company? Well, if it is, I have one on Cocoa and Fig. This is probably the third time I've posted about them, but the place is freaking awesome. I walked around the Farmers Market today in Minneapolis and stopped by their stand on 7th and Nicollet to check it out for the second time. Today they had gorgeous cupcakes so I purchased a vanilla bean cupcake and a black velvet cupcake (their version of red velvet, more made with more chocolate).

I got back to the office and cut the cupcakes into fourths (again, that damn Weight Watchers) and shared with a coworkers. I'm not lying when I say there were five of us in my office with our eyes half closed enjoying the hell out of these cupcakes. They were awesome. And only 2 for $4.

Photo credit: Cocoa and Fig

Sushi!

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Besides being married to potatoes, sushi is one of my favorite foods (if you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about, click here to read this blog post and you'll get it). A couple girlfriends and I met in the 'burbs for sushi at Little Sushi on the Prairie, in Eden Prairie.

I ate a lot, not good for a gal on Weight Watchers (that's another post, another day...) but it was worth it and delicious. Started dinner off with a glass of pinot grigio, edamame and miso soup. Then moved onto a caterpillar roll and number nine roll. Check out their menu for descriptions.

My favorite sushi joint is Fuji Ya, there are two locations, one in Minneapolis and one downtown St. Paul. For those of us that are budget conscious, they have a really great happy hour.

Crappy photo credit: my blackberry

Blueberry Coffee Cake

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Here is the fantastic Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe (from Cooking Light Cookbook), my friend Emily made this for brunch last week and it was delicious!

1/4 cup stick margarine, softened
1/2 (8 ounce) package nonfat cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen huckleberries or blueberries, unthawed
Vegetable cooking spray
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Beat margarine and cream cheese at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating well. Add egg, beat well.


Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into margarine mixture. Stir in vanilla; fold in berries. Pour batter into a 9-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon; springle over batter.


Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour; cool on a wire rack. Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Photo credit Cookinglight.com

The guys deserve some credit

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I've been meaning to post about dinner my husband and his friend Biffer (my good friend, Libby's boyfriend) made us weeks ago but never got around to it. Everytime I'd go to my blog Erik (my hubby) would glance over with hopeful eyes looking for pictures of the dinner they prepared. So here it is, honey, the wonderful dinner you and Biffer made Libby and I.

Some history, Libby and I make the guys dinner all the time, and when I say all the time, I literally mean almost every single night. So we came up with this fantastic idea that the guys should be in charge of dinner at least once a month. So March went by and nothing...then April started sneaking by and still no dinner from the guys. So I basically just told them, "hey guys, on Thursday of this week, you're making Libby and I dinner". And so they did. Finally.

To their credit (and they do deserve some), they made a great dinner. It was kind of random, but really good. They prepared:

Spinach salad with dried cranberries, almonds, mangos, starfruit with a poppyseed dressing
Steak, pepper and onion kabobs on the grill
Grilled asparagus
Roasted cheesy potatoes
Cabernet



Potatoes (any and all kinds ) are one of my absolute favorite foods inthe entire world. So Erik had that in mind when he made this. Yum. I had this weird phase where I went around asking people, "if you had to choose one food to marry, what would it be?" Duh, potatoes for me! Kristin chose cheese, Biffer chose french toast (or was it sauerkraut?) and Erik chose steak. I can't remember what Libby chose. I'm pretty sure Amy chose chocolate...and so on. It is actually quite a fun game and you will find some people are just not willing to commit.

I only got a picture prior to the kabobs going on the grill, even in it's raw form, the kabobs were very pretty, and colorful!

Thank you Erik and Biffer for this lovely meal. Hopefully you guys are planning something good for May!

Sunday Brunch

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I had a fantastic brunch with Emily and Natasha on Sunday morning. We were budget-friendly, had the brunch at Emily's house and each contributed. I brought fruit, an egg bake and bloody mary's, Emily made a delicious blueberry coffee cake and French Press coffee and Natasha brought mimosas.

We took a tour of Emily's lovely garden, ate too much and as always, had a great time. Stay tuned for recipes for the egg bake and blueberry coffee cake.

This photo is funny, Natasha directed it and thought we should set it in the grass, among the dandy lions. It sure is pretty though.

Fabulous Tea

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Check out this gorgeous sparkling tea (Golden Star Tea) I found in the lastest issue of Metropolitan Home. It would be a great non-alchoholic option for my pregger friends (Jill!) or for anyone who isn't a huge drinker. Garnish it with a raspberry or strawberry and you have a gorgeous faux cocktail (I hate the word mocktail, don't you?).


The tea is sold at Whole Foods but I'm not sure if it has distribution in MN yet, you can buy it online, check out their cool website, http://www.goldenstartea.com/.

The absolutely lovely Farmer's Market in Mpls

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I am so lucky to work downtown Minneapolis. Every Thursday there is a wonderful Farmer's Market on Nicollet Mall with fresh flowers, fruit, veggies, pastries, herbs, etc. The veggies and fruits get more abundunt and deeper in color as the season goes by and the crowds are amazing. It is one of my favorite things to just walk up and down the street on my lunch break. I tend to buy way too much (what am I going to do with all this basil???) and spend too much time.


Today I purchased basil, arugula and a couple pastries from Cocoa and Fig (they are a new, fabulous catering and confectionery company. I learned from their Twitter feed this morning that they were going to be at the market today so I had to stop down and tell them how much I adore their blog and their beautiful wedding dessert displays. I purchased a savory ham, chive and cheddar scone and a lemon and cream cheese brioche. Did I mention I am on Weight Watchers this week? I will be pawning those pastries off on my hubby or possibly Kristin if I see her soon enough. But I did sneak a bite of the savory scone and it was delish. Their stand is located on 7th and Nicollet so be sure to check them out on Thursday at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market!!

Photo from Cocoa and Fig's blog of the brioche

Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Mom

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My mom loves carrot cake so my sister and I decided to express our love and adoration for her through good ol'fashioned baking. The first batch was a bust, we should have taken them out of the oven a good 5-8 minutes before we did. They were a bit hard and kind of crunchy. Not fabulous at all.

Second batch was much better. Best part? They were adorable! We piped tiny orange carrots with green leaves on each cupcake. And they taste great, too. We used an Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa recipe from Food Network (minus the raisins and walnuts).

Carrot Cake Cupcakes


2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 extra-large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
For the frosting:nocoupons
3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve.




We celebrated Mother's day at my parent's house and my mom ooohed and aaahed over the cupcakes and didn't believe us (or did a good job pretending) that they were homemade versus store bought. Love my momma!

A much needed Dinner Club

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I had one of those days where a glass of wine was much needed. What made it even better was hanging with Libby and Kristin for dinner club. We had a fantastic meal and a good time.

Kristin is a vegetarian, actually three of my close friends are vegetarians (Amy, Mel and Kristin) so I am accustom to, and really enjoy eating vegetarian when I am with them.


Our dinner club menu consisted of:

Veggies with roasted red pepper hummus (purchased at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market)
Brie cheese, pear jam and crackers
Spring green salad with berries and goat cheese
Grilled portabello mushrooms with blue cheese (amazing blue cheese Kristin got from a cheese shop in Faribault, http://www.faribaultdairy.com/), tomatoes and avocados



Kristin is a great cook and even better baker. She made this amazingly beautiful fruit tart for Mother's Day. She used a recipe from Allrecipes.com, check it out here, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/White-Chocolate-Fruit-Tart/Detail.aspx?src=etaf. Here are some modifications and comments she sent along with the recipe, "I didn't use the pineapple or its juice. I also left out the mandarin oranges. I used kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Instead of the reserved juice from the canned pineapple, I used orange/pineapple juice. The glaze is probably unnecessary but makes the dessert prettier."

Salsa Verde recipe

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I posted the other day about a fabulous cinco de mayo meal and promised to include some recipes. Here is the recipe for the salsa verde Siobhan and I made, we basically winged it which is why the ingredients listed are a range and not exact. Be sure to have extra ingredients on hand to add to taste as needed. If you don't like a lot of heat be sure to seed the peppers!

Salsa Verde

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2-1 chopped white onion
½- 1 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2-3 Jalapeño peppers and 1 serrano pepper
1-2 garlic cloves
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove husks from tomatillos and rinse. Cut tomatillos in half and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatillos for about 15-20 minutes. Put tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro and peppers in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are mixed. Season to taste with salt.

My Pho Adventure

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Before Friday I had never eaten Pho. It is one of Siobhan's favorites so on her second to last day in MN she picked me up at the office and we headed to Eat Street (aka Nicollet in Minneapolis). We went to Pho Hoa (I have no idea how to pronounce that), http://www.phohoa.com/ and had amazing Pho. Such awesome flavor, I kept eating and eating until I was full as hell. I blame the rice noodles.

So that was my Pho adventure, very yummy and it is a budget conscious meal (about $7) and apparently healthy as well.

Inspiration boards

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When I was planning my wedding, inspiration boards were all the rage. An inspiration board is a cumulation of photos you gather that elicit the feeling/look you want to achieve for your day. They help guide decisions and are helpful in showing to vendors (like florists, etc) so that they understand your vision. It is really all about maintaining a vision.

Below is the inspiration board I put together during wedding planning and the second is a collage of photos from my wedding. My vision was an all-white winter wedding with lots of branches, candles, romance and elegance.

Photo credit: Sewell Photography (if you are interested in seeing more photos from my wedding, check out my photog's blog)

The whole point of this is, why not extend the idea of inspiration boards for weddings into everyday entertaining/hosting? It can be done to guide your vision of your next dinner party, bridal shower, baby shower, cocktail party, etc. And plus, it's just plain fun (if you are a geek like me) and really doesn't take that long to do.

For example, I am planning a tea get-together (I'm sorry but I can't bring myself to say tea party) with the women in my family within the next month so I put together an inspiration board to represent how I want the look/feel of that party to be. As you can see, I am going for a garden-feel with fresh flowers, pastels (maybe in the linens?), and of course pretty little sandwiches and mini desserts.

Send me your inspiration boards for your next party and I will post them! Email me at eatdrinkpretty@gmail.com (I can also send you instructions on how to build one, it is super easy).

Tomatillos are delicious

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I celebrated my first ever Cinco de Mayo with good friends Siobhan, Tom and Matt. We made an amazing dinner. I played the role of sous chef and Siobhan was the executive chef. The guys provided great company.

The (freaking fabulous) menu:

Homemade margaritas (translation, I squeezed juice out of 12 limes, Siobhan made symple syrup and zested lime for a lime-salted rim). They were amazing!
Tomatillo salsa (click here for the recipe, http://eatdrinkpretty.blogspot.com/2009/05/salsa-verde-recipe.html)
Chicken enchiladas verdes (with shredded chicken, tomatilla salsa and queso fresco)
Pinto beans
Rice
Corona Light

I will post recipes for the tomatilla salsa (salsa verde) and chicken enchiladas verdes soon. By the way, I just love the word tomatillo, say it three times out loud and you'll love it, too.