Valentine's day Cupcake

I was excited to try my hand at some festive cupcake for Valentine's day. I decided to use a recipe from Martha Stewart Living, Raspberry Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream and Lacy Chocolate Hearts.

The cupcake themselves were similar to the ones I has made before. I used flour and cake flour which made the cupcakes heavier and more muffin like. I also used purred raspberries and coarsely chopped raspberries. My usual cupcake recipes make 12 cupcakes. I notice there was more batter then usual and was really surprised when it made 30 cupcakes. I guess I should not be surprised, it is Martha.

I topped the cupcakes with a store bought buttercream, Duncan Hines :) Buttercream has proven to be very very difficult to make so for the sake of time and my sanity I went with the store option. I dyed the icing with red food coloring to make it a festive pink.

The trickiest part of these cupcakes was the lacy chocolate heart. First i melted some dark chocolate in a double boiler then filled it in a zip-lock bag and cut a tiny hold in one end. I traced hearts onto wax paper and then piped the chocolate around the outline. I then tried to fill in the heart with squiggles. The key word is tried. The "hearts" looked a little blobby and not quiet as perfect and the lacy version Martha created.

Paillards?

First we are so excite to be back making real dinners and blogging about them.


I have a new favorite magazine; Martha Stewart Living. Last month Martha introduced me to paillards, " The French team paillard may sound fancy, but it just refers to the flattened meat." Thanks Martha. She gives three recipes using flattened meats and easy sauces. We chose Pork Paillards with Sour Cream-Paprika Sauce.

To make this dinner we cut the meat, in this case a pork tenderloin, and then smash it to bits:) One of my favorite parts. We then browned the meat on both sides and made a sauce using the brownings in the pan, white wine, chicken stock and sour cream. We finished with paprika.

We served the pork and sauce over wheat pasta. A delicious dish well with in healthy perameters, and we leaned a new technique, Paillards.

Diet is Done!!!

We finished the diet on Friday and decided to celebrate by going to Rudy's and making chocolate covered strawberries, which are actually on Phase 2 :) This time instead of just eating four each, we got to eat as many as we wanted. Awesome.


We are now adjusting to normal life, without each meal and snack regimented for us. We are already making healthier choices out of desire not obligation.

We attended a Super bowl party this weekend and instead of bring our usual pigs in a blanket we opted for a healthier option; veggies, hummus and home made pita chips. I loaded up our Lazy-Susan with red bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers and two kinds of hummus. The pita chips were not that difficult to make. I cut up whole wheat Greek flat bread, brushed on extra virgin olive oil ,sprinkled with garlic salt, and baked for nine minutes at 400.

I was happy with our healthy snack alternative and everyone else at the party seemed to like it too.

Friut never tasted so good!

We started Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet today. Out breakfast consisted of a cup of strawberries and oatmeal with cinnamon and walnuts.

I am already loving Phase two. We will slowly be adding in the food we took out in Phase one, like fruit and whole wheat bread and there are still a few things we can't eat:

Bagel, refined wheat

Bread-refined wheat white

Cookies

Cornflakes

Matzo

Pasta, white flour

Potatoes-baked, white instant

Rice cakes

Rice, white

Rolls, dinner

Beets

Carrots

Corn

Potatoes

Bananas

Canned fruit, juice packed

Fruit juice

Pineapple

Raisins

Watermelon

Honey

Ice cream

Jam

Hopefully this Phase will be much better then the first.