Tag: food

New York City in Photographs

On By Amanda @ FarmgirlwritesIn TravelLeave a comment

As I mentioned in this post a few weeks ago, I traveled to NYC with friends as my summer “vacation”. (You know you’re an adult when you start vacationing with friends instead of family.) I love traveling with people who aren’t interested in the tourist-heavy sites (thank you, Erin and Meredith, for putting up with my phobia), and instead are more interested in exploring the local area.
Our first day there, we visited a lot of camera shops, book stores (HA), and paper stores. We also saw Times Square (which was fantastic – not gonna lie). The second day, we split into two groups and met up with our respective friends in the city. My friend Janie took us to this amazing macaroni and cheese restaurant in East Village (S’MAC), and then we explored The Strand (a personal highlight from the trip).
Food and books. That’s how I roll, folks. Enjoy the photographs below from our adventures!

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Ginger Grapefruit Curd (recipe)

On By Amanda @ FarmgirlwritesIn Food2 Comments

I think this curd is one of my favorite addictions. I made it over the weekend, after seeing the fantastic recipe on 101 Cookbooks. The lovely thing about Heidi’s recipe is that it includes a substitute for sugar (honey).

{If you didn’t know, I’m fasting from sugar this Lent. Today, they had brownies at work. Torture, I tell you. Torture.)

In short, you need to try this curd. Immediately. It’s exotic, but is fantastic on anything. I would recommend it on flatbreads, but use it like you’d use any sweet topping.

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For directions and ingredients, follow the link to 101 Cookbooks.

HS: I simmer my grapefruit juice here so it reduces and concentrates (I do this with any citrus curd I make). The flavor of the curd is better, the color deeper. That said…

Have a lovely Tuesday, my friends!

Cappuccino Swirls (recipe)

On By Amanda @ FarmgirlwritesIn Food3 Comments

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There’s something magical about baking. Yes, any teenage girl with a sweet tooth and a cookbook could tell you that. In my opinion, the true magic lies in who you’re baking with.

Yesterday, instead of going straight home after work, I went over to my sweet friend J’s house. Last night we were both deliriously tired, but still decided to bake cookies. Thank goodness we chose a fairly simple recipe.

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These cookies are quite amazing, actually. They have the lovely flavour of coffee, but it isn’t overpowering. The white and dark chocolate on top makes them utterly delectable. They’re light and sweet – perfect for accompanying tea, milk, or coffee.  farmgirl-0025.jpg

Ingredients

2 tsp instant coffee

2 tsp boiling water

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (diced)

1/4C  superfine sugar (to make superfine sugar, pulse granulated sugar in a food processor for about a minute-ish.)

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tbsp cocoa powder

(for the top)

1/3 cup white chocolate (chopped or in chips)

1/3 cup dark chocolate (chopped or in chips)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Put coffee powder and boiling water in a cup together and stir. Essentially, you’re making really thick coffee. Sift the flour, corn starch, and cocoa powder together. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy, then add the flour and coffee mixtures. I would recommend using an electric beater to beat them together. It will take a few minutes of beating for the consistency to look right. Ideally, the batter should be about the consistency of mashed potatoes and look a little bit like chocolate frosting. Spoon the batter into a piping bag and use a large tip to pipe it into 18-20 circles on a parchment-lined pan. Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Melt white and dark chocolate in separate, heat-proof bowls. For the sake of efficiency, I recommend a double-boiler, or a heat proof bowl inside a small pot of water. Once melted, use a spoon and drizzle one kind of chocolate onto the cookies. Then, drizzle the other kind going the opposite direction.

Note: the white chocolate was a little thick, so we ended up piping ours, but the dark chocolate liquefied much better and we were able to drizzle it.

Enjoy!

(recipe reprinted from The Cookie and Biscuit Bible)