eat your greens

Hi Everyone,
I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I decided to give you guys a really nice rich appetizer idea for the winter time!
I love (and I mean LOVE) brussel sprouts. This might be weird to all of you since it is an urban legend all children and people under the age of 80 hate them. I think that if brussel sprouts are cooked with the right flavors, they are delightful. The other day I was looking through some of my moms favorite recipes and decided to make up my own brussel sprout recipe that she would enjoy.

Things you need:
- 25 brussel sprouts
- 1 cup of aged balsamic
- 1/4 cup graded parmesan cheese
- 5 figs sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt/pepper

In a medium sized saucepan pour 1/2 of the olive oil you have in the bottom of the pan as well as the brussel sprouts. Brussel sprouts are better slightly over done so we need to begin to cook them at a high heat.
After about 3 minutes began to pour in 1/2 cup of your aged balsamic and stir the brussel sprouts in the mixture (as well as the salt and pepper.)
**** TIP: If you want your brussel sprouts to be sweet, make a balsamic reduction by cooking the balsamic before hand, until it is thick.
After the balsamic is cooked down slightly and the brussel sprouts are more cooked, pour in the rest of the vinegar.
As we pour in the last amount of vinegar add the figs and lemon juice and stir until the brussel sprouts are wilted.
Finally, in the last minute of cooking add the parmesan cheese so it is not fully melted.

This is such a delicious dish to service hot with some pasta or meet!
I love it with mashed potatoes.
Enjoy!
xoEm

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Lavender Frosting

Dear Diary,

....

Just kidding

Hi everyone I hope you enjoyed my little intro. 

Last night I had to make some treats for my school end of the semester party, so I decided to make a delicious recipe for all of lovely classmates. Inspired by the festive pumpkin flavors of the holiday season I made pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese lavender frosting.

(adapted from Lottie and Doof.com)

To make little delicious treats you need:

- 3 cans of puréed pumpkin (you can get this at most grocery stores; its usually with the canned foods)

- 2 cups of brown sugar

- 3 cups of flour 

- 2 tablespoons cinnamon

-1 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon cloves

-1 cup vegetable oil

-2 large eggs ( i prefer brown eggs0

-2 tsp vanilla extract

To begin preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Spray two cookie sheets with non stick Pam oil and set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda,

ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix all these ingredients together until fully incorporated.

In a smaller mixing bowl add the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and oil. I would use a whisk or masher to blend these together until fully combined (should look a dark orange/brown), and then add the eggs and vanilla.

Pour the pumpkin mix into the dry ingredients bowl and mix until batter is fully incorporated. 

With an ice cream scooper, scoop small amounts of batter about an 1 1/2 inches apart onto the pre-greesed cookie sheets.

Cook for about 15-17 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in the top and no batter comes out. 

For the lavender frosting (I used store bought cream cheese frosting)

- 2 cans cream cheese frosting (the Betty Crocker kind is delicious)

- 1 pack or a bunch of fresh lavender- enough for about 1 cup of tea

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

In a tea pot, steep 1/2 cup of cut up fresh lavender into 2 cups of hot water until the tea tastes like strong lavender. 

Chill the tea. 

Once tea has completely chilled mix the tea into the frosting and add the vanilla for sweetening. 

Chill mixture and spread in between the layers of the whoopie pie.

Enjoy xoEm

Hi Everyone,
If you didn't read my little sidebar information thing, I am Emily, in 10th grade, and I love to bake and cook!
My mom and dad think ordering out is just as good as cooking (which it sometimes is) but I pride myself in being the chef in my family.
My most favorite type of food is Asian cuisine, especially sushi!
I try to be an adventurous eater, and one of the reasons I am doing this blog is to encourage me to do so.
I am hoping you will find 3 main things from this blog:
-Recipes and yummy things to try at home
-Mouthwatering food photos (who doesn't love a good instagram)
-Reviews of recipes, cookbooks, and restaurants

I <3 you all and hope you enjoy my blog
xoEm