Strawberry Lemon Muffins

Between Mean Irene and Jake the Quake, last week was a little more exciting than most. The scheduled hike on Saturday was a wash, but it left me with a snazzy ol' rental car to spin around town. When I finally went to return it on Sunday, the weather was so beautiful, I couldn't resist soaking it up and foregoing the metro in favor of walking home. With a view like this:

You would have done the same thing! So across the Potomac River, I trotted, where I happened to see this pretty little memorial: 

Then I thought the shadow was cool. It doesn't take much to entertain, does it? (Next time I take this type of picture, I will make sure to choose non-grandma shoes and hair that flows like silk.) 

 Then, to the Washington Monument! Pretty, no?

 A little mosaic on one of the embassies on embassy row:

Honestly, I don't know who this guy is, but he seemed thoughtful, and I liked the colors behind his head.

Next time I see this building, I want to be that girl sitting on the side of sphinx, book in hand.

Turns out this little gem of a park is just a half a mile from my apartment - who knew?!

Every adventure has to end with cooking, right? I mean, urban hiking works up an appetite! These little buggers taste GOOD. We all know that I love the zing of tart lemon and the sweetness of strawberries, and these muffins bring out the best of both of those things. Sadly, they weren't the best looking muffins that have ever graced my kitchen. Oh well. Incentive to try them again!

Strawberry Lemon Muffins

Adapted from Baking Bites

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 6 small lemons)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon zest, then blend in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well, then add in vanilla extract and half of the lemon juice. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remaining juice and the remaining flour mix. Stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Mix in finely chopped strawberries quickly, just to distribute them evenly into the batter.
Spoon batter out into prepared muffin cups. The muffin cups should be very full.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs attached. (FYI - mine took over 20 and were still fairly mushy!)

Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

What's a girl to do when the weather cancels her plans? Why, yes, you're right. Find an indoor activity. A crossword puzzle, some terrible reality tv (could they please stop making these shows so that I no longer have to feel guilty for giving in to temptation and watching them?), and a mystery book later, I decided to head back to the kitchen. 

Seriously, I am loving the chance to do all this cooking. I am afraid, however, that my pants are going to endorse it a little bit less. Which means that either the weather needs to improve or some of you are going to need to step up to the plate and come over for dinner!

This chicken dish came together so quickly, I felt like I had to have missed something along the way! If you want to follow in the footsteps of PF Changs, you can serve this concoction inside butter lettuce or iceberg leaves. Since I didn't have any on hand, I just put it over mixed spring greens, and I can't say that I felt like I was missing out!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1 crown of broccoli, cut into small pieces

4 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (the thinly sliced variety), diced into small cube-sized pieces
1/2 onion, diced into small pieces

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of cremini mushrooms, sliced (or any other kind of mushroom you have on hand)
ground ginger, to taste

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons Sriracha (use more or less according to your spice preference)
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 bunch scallions, chopped (white parts only)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add broccoli and saute until it begins to soften. Add the chicken, onions and mushrooms, and saute until chicken is cooked through. 

Sprinkle chicken evenly with ground ginger. Add garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha to the chicken mixture and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, scallions, and sesame oil and let simmer for 5 minutes or until mixture seems to thicken a bit and really come together.

Serve over lettuce leaves (or spring mix!).

Leek, spinach, and mushroom frittata

Visiting New York was a blast - the perfect combination of hanging out, sightseeing, relaxing, and even a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (hey, we needed a breeze!). Hot on the heels of such a fun trip, I got to meet Lindsey's adorable pup, Zoe (I am committed to making her a best friend, that doggie!) and to see Tracy's new Ellicott City digs. All kinds of adventures!

Now I am home, and also in need of a few more vegetables and about 12 more hours of sleep. Enter...frittata! So easy, and so many veggies for something that still feels like a yummy treat.

Leek, spinach, and mushroom frittata
Serves 4

1 small leek, thinly sliced and cleaned
1 bunch baby spinach
2 cup cremini mushrooms , sliced
3/4 cup swiss cheese low fat, shredded
4 tbsp parmesan cheese
thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, to taste
4 large eggs
4 large egg whites

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat cast iron  or other oven-proof skillet over medium heat with oil or nonstick spray, and saute leek for 5 minutes until tender.
Add mushrooms and saute until tender. Add spinach and heat until wilted. Spread vegetable mixture evenly throughout the skillet.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs with thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Sprinkle about half of the swiss cheese on top of the vegetables, and then pour egg mixture on top. Put in the oven to bake for 15 minutes until egg is just set.
Remove the skillet from the oven, and add the remaining swiss cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Broil for about 5 minutes until top is golden.

Blueberry Muffins

There's a yiddish word, to kvell, that's used to express extreme elation. The best way to visualize it is as rainbows and butterflies bursting from your chest out of sheer joy. That said, I am kvelling at this very moment...because I am heading to New York tomorrow! One of the best of the best friends a girl could ask for, Ms. Gillian, is venturing up from beautiful Durham, NC to surprise her brother bear for his birthday.

Yeeeeeeahicantwaittoseeyoutomorrow,gillie!

I am skipping on up the coast to share in the birthday shenanigans, as well as to see a few faces that I miss oh-so-much. I needed a host gift for the owner (er, renter) of my roof for the next few nights, and blueberry muffins were the treat of request. I could hardly say no, right?

I sure hope these survive the trip up tomorrow - a girl cannot be responsible for her actions after a few hours on the road without supervision...!


Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins

5 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup light greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Juice from half a lemon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt, zest, and lemon juice. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (I took mine out at 24 minutes), until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Let cool on rack.

Zucchini-Carrot Bread

You have to love the government. I have a job in our loveliest of capitols, but four weeks post-submission for my security clearance paperwork, I am still not allowed to step foot into our building! Not that I'm complaining - this time has allowed me to nest and explore to my little heart's content.

After an amazingly beautiful bike ride this morning (monuments? check. water? check. ending up where you didn't plan to? check.), I wanted to bake up a little something to keep the summer spirit alive.

This bread has a very unique flavor, due to the lemon zest that you throw in. I'm going to sum this bread up by saying that I've already had two pieces, and it came out of the oven about 10 minutes ago. Enjoy!

Zucchini-Carrot Bread
Adapted from My Recipes

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Shakes of: allspice, nutmeg, cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/6 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups sugar
1 medium shredded zucchini
1 shredded carrot
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
Cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through baking soda) in a large bowl.
Combine eggs next 3 ingredients (through vanilla) in a large bowl; add sugar, stirring until combined. Add zucchini and carrots; stir until well combined. Add flour mixture; stir just until combined. Stir in walnuts.
Pour batter into 9 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (I would start checking at 50 minutes - mine could have done with a few minutes less baking time). Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

KitchenAid Mixer

Settling in the new digs in Washington, DC has been exciting for a few reasons..being in a new city, being closer to friends, and of course, FINALLY being able to unpack my graduation present to myself:

 Isn't she pretty?!

First up was pizza dough, and to round things out, a little biscotti!

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 egg whites
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds
1 cup sweetened-dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Whisk together eggs, egg whites, and vanilla extract in a separate mixing bowl.
Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, mixing just until moist, using an electric mixer on medium speed. Add dried cranberries and almonds; mix thoroughly.
On floured surface, divide batter in half and pat each half into a log approximately 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick. Place on a cookie sheet and bake 30 minutes or until firm. Cool on a wire rack.
Reduce oven temperature to 300F. Cut biscotti into 1/2 inch slices. Place cut biscotti on a cookie sheet and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Let cool and store in a loosely covered container.