"Blizzard" Juno

In case you were somehow missed it, the northeast was hit by Blizzard Juno, which some had predicted to be the worst storm since the 1800s to hit NYC.  Well, Blizzard Juno turned out to be more like slightly large snow storm Juno instead.  Nevertheless, I'll take any excuse to get out a couple hours early.  I'd been wanting to try my hand at making cauliflower pizza for a while and, with my recent cauliflower obsession, had some extra in my fridge. I made a personal mini one using a variation of the recipe from Detoxinista. My full recipe follows the amazing pictures.

Start with blending your cauliflower...

Place it on a thin dishtowel...

Microwave in bowl... 

Wring out the water...

Make your "dough"...

Shape into crust...

Bake for 15 minutes....

Add your sauce...

And your toppings...

Just 5 more minutes...

Enjoy!! 

Ingredients

Makes 1 mini pizza crust

1/3 medium head of cauliflower florets

1/2 tsp egg

1/3 slice Monterey Jack cheese

1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grind up the cauliflower florets (I used a Magic Bullet since my large NYC apartment doesn't allow space for me to keep a food processor). Place the mush in to a thin dishtowel and wring out all the water. Place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 10 seconds. Wring again - yes, it's going to be a little hot. Repeat.  This will make sure you get all the water in the cauliflower out **Detoxinista suggests boiling then straining, but I didn't want to lose any of the little bit of cauliflower I had** Mix in the rest of the ingredients to make the "dough." Shape it into a crust and place it on a sheet of foil sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove and add your sauce and toppings.  I used 1 tablespoon of marinara, a little bit of sausage, and a sprinkle of kale so I can pretend like I'm healthy.  Top with a little more cheese because there isn't such a thing as too much cheese and return to oven.  Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted. Bon Appétit!

Bourbon Shortbread Cookies with Mint Julep Glaze

The Broncos are out. If you say you called that this early on, I'm calling you out. Peyton hasn't looked his best this season, but it was almost merciless to have the future hall-of-famer go out to his former team - yet, somehow fitting at the same time.  If this is the end of Peyton's run, it's almost symbolic that it is initiated by a loss the Colts as if he were giving way to Luck.

In college football news, Urban Meyer won his fourth national championship, makingThe Buckeyes of The Ohio State University the first national champions of the CFP era. Though the Ducks and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota drew first blood, it was pretty much all downhill from there. Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott did not look like sophomores - and definitely not a third-string QB in the case of Jones - as the Buckeyes scored 42 points against an Oregon defense that looked lost.

Now, for the reason we're here: Whiskey Wednesday. This week, I'm posting one of my easiest, go-to whiskey treat recipes: bourbon shortbread cookies with a mint julep glaze. Made these for my coworkers and they could not believe they weren't home-made.

Ingredients
(makes about 30 cookies depending on how generous you are)

For the cookies:
The wets:
3 sticks unsalted room-temp butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp bourbon, and more for drinking (I used Bulleit Bourbon because I believe in cooking with what you would drink)

The dries:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

For the icing:
15 large mint leaves (I like it really minty)
1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp bourbon, and more for drinking


In a medium bowl, sift together your wets. In a large(r) bowl, mix your butter and sugars together. Once they're completely combined, add in the vanilla extract and bourbon. Take a shot of the bourbon. Pour in the flour and salt mixture little by little, making sure your incorporating it thoroughly every time. Take another shot. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours - this helps keep the shape of the cookies since the butter is warm.  Throw it in without refrigerating and your cookie will melt right quick. Make an old fashioned - you have a bit to sober up.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Form your cookie. *Tip* I formed them in the shape I wanted them to be as the ball technique doesn't work with these chilled babies. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

While the cookies are baking, make your mint julep icing. Finely dice your mint leaves. Take a shot - see what I did there? Made sure you didn't take the shot before using a knife. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and you have your icing.

Take the cookies out the cookies and let them cool. Take a shot. Ice them when they're ready and enjoy! Let's be real though, you won't really know how delicious they are at this point.

Makeshift Sangria

Let me start off with what's on everyone's mind: the defensive holding that should've been called against the Cowboys last night. In case you missed it, Dallas LB Anthony Hitchens blatantly pulled on TE Brandon Pettigrew's jersey. Pass interference was called then overruled, giving the Lions a fourth down instead of the first down they should've gotten. On their next possession, the Cowboys scored the game-winning touchdown. I really don't understand how they get so lucky all the time - well other than their not being a small market team and bringing in revenue for the league.

To pick myself up from going 3-1 and staring at Excel all day, I decided to treat myself to some sangria because, well, is there ever a day sangria can't fix? Problem #1: this California girl is not enough of an alcoholic to venture outside into the cold to acquire all the various ingredients needed to make a proper sangria. Problem #2: After working 13 hours yesterday, I had no desire to go to a bar/restaurant and be around people. So what's a girl to do? I made a makeshift sangria with what I had in my apartment and it actually ended up being quite delicious!

If you think about it, a basic sangria recipe can broken down into 4 parts: the booze, the citrus, the sweet fruit, and the fizz. You can find some variation of these in your kitchen/fridge. In my case, I used:

1/2 bottle of Malbec (it's only a Monday, guys, so we're taking it easy) as my booze
4 oz. orange juice as my citrus
2 oz. cider (I still had this from holiday celebrations, but I'm sure any apple/mango/peach beverage will do) as my sweet fruit element
Topped off with Fresca as my fizz (Added bonus? Fresca is naturally ZERO calories)

I know it's missing the brandy in a traditional red sangria, but what 25-year-old has that just lying around? Grab some chips and dip and you've got yourself your own little sangria party. Give it a shot and let me know your variations! Cheers!

Sidenote: Those things floating in my glass of sangria? Plastic ice cubes. You can't call yourself a drinker if you don't have them. Cheaper than whiskey stones and they come in different colors #nailedit.

Pops of Color

What better way to start off the year than with some spontaneous baking? 

Some color to ring in 2015

While running errands yesterday, I suddenly got the impulse to make these whimsical treats. I picked up some sprinkles and lollipop sticks from Michael's and white chocolate morsels and coconut flakes from Fairway before heading home to watch the first ever CFB playoff game, the Rose Bowl (hometown pride!). I figured I could put the cake in the oven before the game and it would bake and cool by the end of halftime. I could easily decorate while watching the second half. 

Unfortunately, I ended up switching over to Food Network halfway through the third. Mariota and Oregon, always looking sharp with their uni's, went up 32-20 and never looked back.  The 'Noles are known for their second-half antics, but you know the Ducks wouldn't let that comeback happen. The game ended up still being one for the books though as Oregon scored the most points (59) in Rose Bowl history. Maybe Winston should've laid off those extracurriculars (yes, y'all can refer back to this post and laugh at me when the Jets draft him since all we do is make decisions on what is going to garner the most media attention). Not the most thrilling start to the post-BCS era, I'll admit.

Anyways, see below for the recipe for the cakepops. Now, excuse me while I catch up on some sleep after staying up for the more entertaining Sugar Bowl. Sorry, Nick.


White Chocolate Dipped Cakepops

Ingredients
The dries:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

The wets:
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 eggs (always use room temp!)
1 tsp vanilla

The other stuff:
1 cup milk
1 bag of coconut flakes (optional, but I think it added a little sumthin' sumthin') 
16 oz. container of frosting
1 bag Nestle white chocolate chip morsels
sprinkles
vegetable oil

**Tip: If you want to cheat/be lazy, you can just get boxed cake mix and skip the dries, wets, and the cup of milk. Bake as directed on box.**

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Mix your dries together and set aside. Mix your wets together in a separate, larger bowl in the above order, remembering to add the eggs one at a time so they're incorporated thoroughly. Patience is a virtue - make sure the butter and sugar is combined and fluffy before moving on. When that's ready, add the flour mixture and milk to the wets little by little (think 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 flour mixture). After that starts looking like a batter, fold in the coconut flakes if you're feeling it. Taste a little for good measure before pouring into your baking pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until you stick a toothpick in the middle and it doesn't come out gooey (aka toothpick done). Remove and cool.

**For the cheaters out there, start here** 

Now comes the fun and messy part. Take a large bowl and crumble the cooled cake.  Pour in the container of frosting and mix until it looks like a pile of mush/babyfood. Use a cookie scoop (or you can eyeball it if you're talented...I'm not) and form individual balls.  Put them on a tray and throw them in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Melt your morsels (double-boiler style or in the microwave). It'll be a little thick so add vegetable oil to it until it's a little more liquified, approximately two tablespoons. Take a few balls out of the freezer at a time (so the other ones don't get too warm when you're working on your masterpiece). Dip a lollipop stick in the white chocolate and stick it halfway into the ball. Dunk the ball into the chocolate, remove, and twirl slowly to cover the entire cake ball. Before the chocolate hardens, bedazzle it with some sprinkles. Stick the pop in a styrofoam block or anything that will keep it upright as it dries. Voila - you have yourself a cakepop!