Summer, Season of Happiness

Despite studying feverishly for the bar exam, this summer has been off to a wonderful start. It has been punctuated by adventurous meals, easy times with friends that cause the hours to slip away unnoticed, and beautiful moments with my little pack. Even though I have hours of memorization and practice to do each day, waking up is easier knowing that I have one of these special activities slotted into my schedule. But if there’s more than one, then I’ll slide off into bliss and never return.

Summer’s seasonal specialties have been wonderful too. I love getting to snack away on plump cherries, juicy watermelon, and I’m planning a trip to crack open zesty crabs. Other food adventures: An Ethiopian smorgasboard in Shaw, blue crab tacos at Bandolero, some of the best sandwiches I’ve tasted from Pepe food truck, and the SPICIEST meal of my life at Little Serow. I’m even happier because of the rooftop BBQ, breakfast pizza over Eurovision, a picnic by the monuments, breakfast with meh food but wonderful friends, and a belated Easter brunch marked by delicious quiches.

Like my nails? It’s the Sensationail gel manicure kit from CVS. I approve!

The flowers have been pretty, and the drinks have been flowing. I’m in love with strawberry lemonade cocktails made from my strawberry-infused vodka. I also hit a cocktail “class” at Lost Society that taught me absolutely nothing but reinforced my love of crushed ice. And there’s lavender lemonade to appear here soon!

I hope your summers are happy and fun too. Mosquito bite count: 1 (not too bad!)

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Chipotle Cream Pasta with Shrimp and Greens

If you like spicy pasta, you’ll go nuts for this one. I’ve been waiting to make it for months, ever since my friend shared his wildly successful kitchen experimentation with me. I started craving it on the spot! I started checking in at Trader Joe’s, hoping they would stock frozen, raw shrimp instead of frozen, cooked shrimp. After three months, I couldn’t wait any longer. I gave in and bought the cooked shrimp, and I’m glad I did. It’s hard to have a food craving go unfulfilled for so long!

This pasta is easy to make, and it’s full of spicy hot, satisfying flavor. To start, bring a pot of water to boil, and cook some linguine according to the package’s instructions. While the pasta cooks, dice 1/2 onion and mince 3 garlic cloves. Add them to a pan with olive oil to soften. The sweetness of the onions really helps to balance the spice in this dish, so don’t neglect them. Once the onions and garlic are ready, add in 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 2-3 minced chipotle peppers depending on the amount of heat you desire.

Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until the tomatoes start to break down. While that happens, halve a handful of cherry tomatoes. If you’re cooking with raw shrimp, add them to the broken down sauce along with the cherry tomatoes and 1-3 tablespoons of cream, depending on your tolerance for unhealthy ingredients.

Add 2 heaping handfuls of baby spinach leaves to the pan, and mix them around so they wilt. You can add a lid to the pan if you want to speed this process along.

When the spinach has almost wilted, add your linguine into the pan, and stir it around so it can absorb and thicken the sauce. If you’re using cooked shrimp, you can add them in with the linguine.

Once everything is nice and cooked together, get ready to gobble. But first, top the pasta with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. I like serving this kind of pasta with toasty bread, even though it’s a carb overload, because it can ease the chipotles’ heat, soak up some sauce, or help scoop the pasta. This is a relatively quick and easy dinner, and if my description of it has given you a craving, then please don’t be like me. Satisfy it immediately!

Shopping list:

  • Linguine
  • Shrimp
  • Chipotle peppers- 2 to 3
  • Onion- 1/2
  • Garlic- 3 cloves
  • Diced tomatoes- 1 can
  • Heavy cream- 1 to 3 tablespoons
  • Cherry tomatoes- 1 handful
  • Baby spinach leaves- 2 big handfuls
  • Olive oil
  • Parmesan cheese
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Apple and Cheddar Scones

My kitchen was a scone factory the other day. David requested that I make lemon blueberry scones, and although they are delicious, I was shocked because he never requests anything sweet. It was a big endorsement! And then I was craving a batch of apple cheddar scones that I first made two years ago and have been pondering ever since. These scones have a surprisingly small amount of sugar in them, and they strike the perfect balance between sweet and savory. They are also very addictive!

To start, get 2 green apples. Pre-heat your oven to 375ºF. Then, rinse and peel the apples, and cut them into 1 inch pieces.

Put the apples on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake them for 20 minutes until they just start to brown and look dry. Remove the apples from the oven and set them aside to cool.

Into a food processor or an electric mixer, add 1.5 cups of flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 6 tablespoons of cold, cubed butter, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and 1 egg. Combine those ingredients together well. If using a food processor, by hand, mix in the apple pieces and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Now it’s time to form the dough into scones. I was bringing these scones to a party, so I made mini ones by patting the dough into a rectangle and using a knife to cut the dough into squares and then into triangles. If you want to make the scones into larger servings, pat the dough into a circle, and use a knife to cut it like a pizza into 8 wedges.

Space the scones out onto a baking mat or a greased cookie sheet, and put them in the oven.

Let the scones bake at 375°F until they begin to brown and the edges become crisp. Smaller scones should take about 20 minutes, while larger ones should take about 30 minutes. Remove the scones, and let them cool.

These scones are best eaten while they are still warm so the cheese is melty. They are so delicious. I did a favor to the world and ate all of the ugly ones. You’re welcome!

This recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Shopping List:

  • Green apple- 2
  • Flour- 1.5 cups
  • Sugar- 1/4 cup
  • Baking powder- 1/2 tablespoon
  • Salt- 1/2 teaspoon
  • Butter- 6 tablespoons
  • Cheddar cheese- 1/2 cup, shredded
  • Heavy cream- 1/4 cup
  • Egg- 1
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