Mar

29

Chocolate Banana Crepes

Filed Under Blog, Desserts | 12 Comments

This was my very first time making crepes. I’ve heard they can be difficult to pull off but I was surprised that they turned out to be pretty easy!

I was craving something sweet and I had some WAY ripe bananas. I’m tired of the old stand-by for them – banana bread. After googling “bananas” and “cocoa powder” I found this recipe and it is a definite keeper. It took less than ten minutes and I only made slight changes by adding a whole egg instead of just the yolk, a bit more butter to the chocolate sauce, and then plated it with some drizzled Hershey’s syrup and sprinkled powdered sugar.

Ingredients

Chocolate Sauce:
1 1/2 TBS butter
1 TBS whole milk
2 tsp Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
1 TBS cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark)
2 TBS powdered sugar

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat then stir in milk and hazelnut liqueur. Next add the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Let sit on very low heat to keep warm.

Crepe:
1/2 C whole milk
1 1/2 TBS butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
1 TBS cocoa powder
2 TBS powdered sugar
1/3 C all-purpose flour

2 very ripe bananas, sliced

To make the batter get a medium bowl and stir together milk, melted butter, egg, vanilla, and hazelnut liqueur. Whisk in the cocoa powder until completely incorporated, then the powdered sugar, and lastly, whisk in the flour.

Melt just a tad of butter in a medium size cast iron skillet (or spray a non-stick frying pan or crepe pan with cooking spray – but seriously, cast iron is THE BEST) and heat over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan and carefully swirl around in the pan to form a very thin disk. Cook for about 2 minutes then use a spatula to flip and cook about 1 minute more.

Place the crepe on a plate and add about 1/2 of a sliced banana to the crepe. Spoon on 1/4 of the chocolate sauce, fold crepe closed with the seam side down, then drizzle with Hershey’s syrup (optional) and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Repeat the process for each crepe and serve warm.

Mar

26

Life Makeover

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I haven’t been writing much lately because I have been in the midst of an entire life makeover. I sat down about two weeks ago and made a four page list of

1) House projects
2) Cleaning schedule
3) Daily schedule
4) Art projects / Work that needs done

It can seem overwhelming when I look at everything written down, but I’ve realized all it takes is JUST DOING IT, one little step at a time.

I’ve started to totally change my day-to-day habits, my eating, my productivity level, and the BIG project I’ve taken on these past few weeks is cleaning – REALLY cleaning – and decorating to make our apartment more cozy and more…us.

One absolutely fantastic resource I want to share is Vintage Printable, a website with 1,000′s of public domain vintage images that are totally legal to download and print. They even have a section just for Birds – Eggs and Nests.

Luckily, during my “clean every nook and cranny” phase I found a vast array of picture frames. I hadn’t even remembered collecting so many but I have at least 40+ frames in all different sizes – now I just need some black spray paint for them! I’ve chosen several vintage photos to print from that website but I don’t want to show them quite yet :)

I also don’t want to show any progress photos of the apartment so far but I will show some of the photos I keep turning to for inspiration (I can get lost for hours on decorating websites….they’re so dangerous….)

Alright, now time for some Friday night vegging. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Mar

24

New Headshot

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So, while visiting at my parents house a few days ago I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot with dad to give him a new headshot.

Canon Rebel XT, 50mm 1.8

Set up was simple – BIG window in front, white sheet for a backdrop (held up by being draped over a tripod and some…metal decorative thingy) and had my mom hold a large white canvas on his left side to bounce light onto his face.

Ta-da! I know that was a short post but I’ll be writing and putting up more photos soon :)

Mar

22

Green Lemon Cafe

Filed Under Blog | 6 Comments

It’s official. I have become a lover of crepes.

This morning Darlene treated me to brunch at Green Lemon Cafe in Winter Park (1945 Aloma Ave). She was the third friend to tell me about this restaurant and I’ve been looking forward to trying it out for weeks.

I love the clean and friendly decor. It just makes me want to sit back with a hot tea and giant plate of food. Job well done, interior decorator!

Specials are written on a giant mango (mango? lemon? you choose) near the front door. Next visit I HAVE to try the Mediterranean Crepe with portabella mushrooms & roasted veggies with fresh spinach and goat cheese.

Darlene looking cute with her cup of coffee (Dar is a long time friend/second mother and her husband is who married me and Matthew two years ago)

This beautiful creation is the Chicken Florentine whole wheat crepe I ordered (Chicken, fresh spinach, mushrooms, onion, cheddar jack cheese blend, and pesto – $7.95).

Talk about AMAZING. The drizzle of pesto and crème fraîche on top added the perfect amount of moistness. I was really happy that there weren’t any overpowering cheeses or heavy sauces to drown out the “green” flavor from the fresh spinach. It also came plated with a mound of chiffonade basil, and a sprinkle of paprika on the plate. Are you drooling yet?

I thought my meal was the pinnacle of deliciousness until I tasted a bite of Darlene’s Turkey Brie whole wheat crepe (Turkey, brie cheese and sliced apple – $7.95).

Lord. Almighty. The flavors are simple but the slightly salty turkey, the creamy smooth brie, and the hint of sweetness from the apples all blended so perfectly together. I could definitely eat one. Right now. Please.

This is one of the sweet crepes offered at Green Lemon and appropriately named the Green Lemon Crepe ($4). It’s flavored with lemon juice, honey, powdered sugar, and a bit of whipped cream. I realized after a few bites that it was too sweet for my taste but by no means “bad”. I’ve been in more of a savory mood today so anyone with good sweet tooth would probably be over the moon with this dish.

After looking over the take out menu I have with me I think I’m going to have a hard time choosing what to order on my next visit. Along with crepes they also offer panini’s, soups, salads, sandwiches, fruit and yogurt smoothies, and a weekend brunch menu served from 10am-2pm that offers cafe potatoes and various egg, english muffins, and waffle dishes.

I think I have found my new favorite place to eat. :)

Mar

18

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango & Strawberries

Filed Under Desserts | 4 Comments

This is one of those desserts that looks really impressive yet takes hardly any work at all – seriously! Most restaurants charge $6 or more for one serving but all you need are four basic ingredients, plus some fruit, and you have yourself one fancy looking treat for a fraction of the cost.

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango & Strawberries

Now, I know traditionally you’re supposed to soak the sticky rice then steam it – and that is AWESOME if you want to go that route – but I opt for the super-easy-no-soaking method, otherwise known as a rice cooker (I use this amazing little Rival 6-Cup Rice Cooker from Target. Probably our most used wedding gift ever – thanks, Paul and Rebecca!).

Ingredients:
(Serves 6-8)

1 (15 oz) can Coconut Milk (NOT LIGHT I don’t want anyone commenting or complaining that their version didn’t turn out because they used that godforsaken LIGHT Coconut milk. It’s just coconut milk with WATER added, of course it won’t be as good!)
3/4 C white sugar
1 tsp coarse salt
2 C of sticky rice, cooked (will make about 4 C after cooking)
Fruit of your choice (I used about 1/4 a mango and 4 strawberries for one serving)

1. In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, combine coconut milk, sugar, and salt and stir to dissolve. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, immediately remove from heat. Reserve 1/3-1/2 C of the coconut sauce in a glass container.

2. Gently fold in the sticky rice (don’t stir) to coat completely. Cover the pan and let sit for 10-20 minutes for the rice to absorb all the sauce.

3. Put one or two large spoonfuls of sticky rice on a plate then top with sliced mango and strawberries. Spoon on some of the reserved coconut sauce and sprinkle an extra pinch of coarse salt on top.

Shape the rice roughly in the shape of the mango, only slightly larger .