Friday, December 30, 2011

pints.

mom, maya, and i needed an icecream fix. probably not the best thing to let us run to the store for it.
we bought seven different pints of gelato and sorbet. was this a problem? heck no. aside from the fact that we spent an arm and a leg on gourmet ice cream, of course.


the flavors included strawberry, key lime grahm, pistachio, two different types of mango, blood orange, and blackberry cabernet.
blackberry cabrenet was my very favorite. probably because it has the word cabernet in it which makes me feel very fancy. wine in your ice cream? what kind of world is this? also, it was delicious.
calories, step aside.
icecream craving? subdued.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

whipped strawberry cake.(a.k.a. whipped love)

i got home from work tonight physically exhausted, but my little baking mind wouldn't have it. nutmegan sat in the dining room calling my name. it was like a soft angelic voice yelling "use me sarah, use me!" so i got back in my car and went right to the grocery store real quick.






it was love at first bite.
i got this recipe via sweetapolita and it's just fabulous. i followed her directions exactly and minus the fact that i had to trim down two of my layers that weren't actually 8", it was foolproof. enjoy, my friends. (just don't look at rosie's version too closely, it's way better than mine ;))

Thursday, December 22, 2011

2011

every year i spend so much time reflecting on all the things that went right and wrong. the first half of this year was so fantastic, i got to go back to utah for the first time since we moved, and see my beautiful best friend on the night of her prom. i got to go to Taylor & Lance's wedding and see the rewards that come with preparing to be worthy of a temple marriage and an eternal companion. i turned sixteen and got my drivers license, reached our year mark for living here,went to the most life changing and fantastic year of EFY with bryn and quickly strengthened our relationship. i had the opportunity to be a YCL at camp over twenty two highly energetic twelve year olds which taught me leadership and patience. i got to spend six weeks of my summer in Utah which included two weeks with Julia, a second EFY, and a week at bear lake with the coolest cousins ever. i came home and got my first job at Target and worked for the remainder of the summer. i started my junior year at a new highschool which turned out a lot better than i expected it to. i made friends, and was fortunate enough to take the most eye opening creative writing class which has improved my writing more than i ever thought possible. i cooked our entire thanksgiving spread for thirty people, had a ugly sweater party with fifty teenagers at my house,and most recently was featured in our schools newspaper as a force to be reckoned with in the culinary world. more than anything i'm grateful for the great friends that i've made within the past year, i wouldn't be where i am without any of them. it's nice to have best friends in Utah, New Mexico, and Minnesota. there isn't any snow on the ground in december which is slightly strange but i'm keeping cheery anyways. as far as church, i'm still attending early morning and serving as first counselor in the laurels class and on stake youth commitee. 2011 was fabulous and went by so qucikly.
much love,
sarah

Saturday, December 10, 2011

tis the season to eat fabulous food.

dear food blog,
i am sorry for my lack of posting. school and work are on the verge of killing me. no worries, i'm still in the kitchen.
here are some recipes that will be making way to our kitchen table very soon.
                                             Asparagus soup with toasted baguettes and poached eggs
                                                             Cherry Pie Cupcakes
Crunchy garlic Chicken

                                                                 Rainbow Jello.
some odd holiday fixes, i know. the classics will return though, no worries!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

miss julia.




oh how i love her. i'm reading this fabulous biography about her right now. it has completely changed my prespective on her life and i'm only two hundred pages in.
someday i'm going to change the culinary world too, you just wait and see.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

accomplished.

my creative writing class is by far one of the most challenging classes that i have ever taken. before passing each paper back, my teacher stands up and reads the one she feels deserves the most praise. you can imagine the shock i felt when she began to recite the words i had written and worked so hard on.
so that would be why i haven't been posting.
welcome to crazy.

Monday, October 3, 2011

crazy week.

believe it or not, i have been cooking annnddd...taking pictures. none of which i have actually transfered from my phone yet. however, i do have a few little gems for you, this past weekend i got to play mom. the result was some crazy good food and great times with maya and ethan. please enjoy these crappy cell phone pictures clearly taken in the dark.

recipes from this week to come soon!
happy eating!
sarah.

Friday, September 23, 2011

vanilla bean gelato with orange white chocolate sauce.

i've always had a hard time sharing my recipes with people, i'm not sure if it's because i'm selfish or because i don't want them to steal my recipe. probably a little bit of both. this gelato recipe won me a student culinary achievement award at school last year and it won over the hearts of many since then. i'll put my non sharing fetish aside for the moment as long as you drop everything and make this.


vanilla bean gelato with orange white chocolate sauce.
from the kitchen of sarah leslie
gelato base:
5 Large egg yolks.
3/4C. sugar
2 1/4C. whole milk
1C. heavy cream
1 Vanilla bean

step one: in a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow and thickens up.
step two: combine the whole mill, heavy cream, and 1 vanilla bean (sliced in half lengthwise leaving the bottom attached) in a saucepan.
step three: heat the mixture until it barely begins to bubble along the edges. DO NOT allow the mixture to boil or else it will resuld in curdled milk--yuck.
step four: remove from heat.
step five: remove vanilla bean and scrape out the remaining seeds with the tip of a small knife and add the seeds back into the milk mixture then discard the shell.
step six: while whisking the egg mixture add in about a cup of warm milk mixture and combine together--this step is called tempering and it prevents your egg + milk combination from becoming a scrambled eggs catastrophe.
step seven: add remaining milk mixture.
step eight: heat the mixture slowly to 175*-185* F. this is just the temperature the internet gave me forever back and it seems to work. if you don't have a thermometer just dip a wooden spoon in the mixture and if it coats the back then you're in business!
step nine: pour into an airtight container and chill overnight.
step ten: pour mixture into an icecream mixer (this is for my three pint cuisinart mixer) and leave on for about twenty minutes. the ice cream will be really soft, if you want it to firm up place it in the freezer for a couple of hours. good luck waiting that long.


though the ice cream is to die for this sauce, oh man it's SO good. i wanted to do something different that would dress up a basic gelato. this is what i came up with and i've been making it the same way ever since.

orange white chocolate sauce.
1/2 C. whipping cream
1/3 C. honey
11.5 oz white chocolate (i ALWAYS use two bars of ghirardelli vanilla bean while chocolate.)
the zest of one orange
the juice of one orange.

step one: add honey and whipping cream to a saucepan on medium heat. combine completely not allowing it to boil.
step two: add orange juice and zest and mix completely then allow to simmer for one minute. this allows the orance flavore to really infuse with the honey and milk mixture.
step three: add white chocolate to the mixture and combine.
step four: allow to set up for about fifteen minutes then spoon over ice cream. this can be kept out of the refridgerator in an air tight container for two days.
delicious.

happy eating!
sarah.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

here we go again.

if there is one thing i know well, it's food. i've never been the smartest kid in school, but i've always done my best. where some kids excel in math, my strongest area is in the kitchen. i love it there, and it's where i'm my happiest. i'd much rather be at home making torte on a friday night than out doing crazy things. not that i don't love crazy things, because i do. anyways, my point is, i have this dream, this goal of going somewhere that's going to take a lot of work to get to. i can do it though, and i've decided that sharing my journey along the way isn't a bad idea. you can expect some pretty great food stories here, and of course fantastic recipes! care to join me on my food journey? i'd love it if you'd stay for a bite!