Couple of Crumbs

Summer Break

I know, I know… I should have written this ages ago. Now that I’ve actually had to wear tights and a jacket to work I guess it’s really truly over. You know one of the best things about having your own blog is being able to stretch the summer season for another two weeks. (Yay!) Call it denial or you can call it luck. Luck because we had the luxury of having more guest posts for our summer series than weeks of summer. How awesome is that?

We want to take this moment to thank our wonderful, fabulous, talented guest bloggers who took the time to write a little something for our blog. (Fun fact: we had 19 writers joining Funfetti & Red Velvet this summer.) We are so proud that our entries were just as diverse as those who wrote them.

Here’s a little rundown of all the excitement:

• Two of our guests (Snackcake & Fight the Future) traveled to Paris & London this summer plus Red Velvet went too!

• The Eatinist Bitch concocted a key lime cheesecake in the comforts of her own home, while LatteLove learned a little bit about food during her time in Italy.

• Giggles saw Greece. (Are you jealous of all this amazing traveling yet?)

• Mila planned a staycation, and Funfetti daydreamed about the places she’d like to visit.

• Jessica went to the Outer Banks, Waves of Grain took a road trip, and Pecan Praline locked herself up in school (sort of).

• Cinnamon talks about being a teacher on summer vaca. (An awesome profession with built in days off!)

• MKWonderland discusses the mysteries of her underwear drawer.

• Butterbeer remembers a past summer, while Chocolate Chip talked about big and little moves.

• Funfetti lists her favorite summer reads while Red Velvet is on the prowl for a series as memorable as the Hunger Games (she also read her first audio book).

• Katie shares a great list of her summer beauty must-haves!

• Random Ramblings memorializes the end of Harry Potter era.

• Speaking of Harry Potter, Red Velvet and Funfetti review the last movie ever (tear) plus Red Velvet sees The Help.

• Red Velvet stands up for herself; S’more gets used to hanging out with a bigger crowd.

• The Eatinist Bitch recalls being a little girl in the kitchen while Pumpkin Spice takes a trip down memory lane herself. (Prepare yourself for some beautiful writing.)

• Anni shares the hard-hitting fashion lessons she learned from the Baby-Sitter’s Club. (Who didn’t want to look like Claudia?)

We really cannot expect how appreciative we are to all those who contributed to our summer series! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Thanks also to those of you who have tuned in to read every week!

While this isn’t goodbye, we cupcakes are going to take a little bit of a coffee break around these parts. Things are still pretty busy in real life, and we are looking to revamp COC entirely. We hope you will join us when we officially reopen in a few weeks!

We also want to wish a belated congratulations to our guest cupcake Lemon Drop who just welcomed a baby girl into her family. Congrats to all of you!

To keep up with us as we are creating a fun new COC, please be sure to LIKE us on Facebook & follow our Twitter account!

Talk to you soon!

Summer Lovin’: Italians taught me how to eat well.

LatteLove is a lady who loves to cook, travel, blog, style, and read - and daydreams about someday writing full-time. This summer she spent a month near Milan Italy this summer while her husband was completing a summer internship there and she loved learning about Italian food ethic.

After gorging on some serious eats while in Milan this summer, I fell in love all over again with Italian food. After coming home, I realized that I wanted to really capture what I loved about the ritual of meal times - not just the actual food (although it was incredible), but the ethic of it. Mealtimes in Italy were an experience I won’t soon forget.

Eating Seasonal

The Italians we ate with only served things that were fresh and in season. Zucchini, tomatoes, and cantaloupe were ripe and available in the local markets, so we ate them nearly every day. Grapes, nectarines and plums were served after almost every meal. Cool foods were eaten for dinner as most Italians don’t have the luxury of central air and it gets HOT. We also ate a lot of seafood, which is more commonly served in the summer. 

I loved the natural emphasis on seasonal and local, but it was interesting that many families wouldn’t even consider making a non-seasonal dish on a whim. I had told our host wife early on that I really loved risotto, which is traditionally a winter dish. She made it for my last meal there, but everyone made a comment about how strange it was to eat risotto in the summer and how they would have never served it if I wasn’t there.

Keeping it Fresh

I never once saw a boxed or packaged food in any of the homes we visited. No freezer meals, boxed mixes, packaged snacks. All the meals consisted of simple dishes made with simple ingredients, that were easily identified and usually purchased within a couple days of consumption. It must have been because of this that we didn’t come home from Italy with any extra weight! Despite how much they filled us, we never felt sick or overloaded.

Being Present

One reason Italians do hospitality well is they prepare as much as possible ahead of time. The matrons of the house always had beautiful spreads…but they were also always present at the table while we enjoyed them. There was a ton of advance preparation – from arranging antipasti trays with meats and cheeses, cutting food ahead of time, and even pre-cooking the meat dishes and just reheating, or serving them at room temperature.  I don’t know where they learned to manage their time like that – when I have company for dinner I rarely sit down for more than two minutes the entire meal!

No Rush

Another of my favorite mealtime traditions Italy was the length of meals. Typically a meal would involve 5-6 courses. Antipasti  - usually bruschetta or tampenade, cheeses, salami, olives. Then the pasta course(primi), followed by a meat course (secondi). A green salad was generally served after the meat, then cheese. Finally a sweet dessert and fruit. 

We always finished dinner of with espresso or alcohol, (or both)! Even though Italians don’t eat slowly, they make their mealtimes last and spend a lot of time chatting and connecting. We loved our times of fellowship over meals maybe more than any other experience we had in Italy.

Wasting Not

I picked up a great Italian food custom, when on my first day eating with a family I did the scarpetta - which is an expression used to describe the act of wiping your plate clean with a piece of bread. (The word literally means ‘little shoe’) Everyone was so proud that I was eating like the Italians!

It was pretty common for everyone to eat their fill and the hostess to serve the remainders to whoever she thought needed some more there. There were a few night where we ate far more than we ever thought possible. The Italians don’t believe in leftovers. If it’s on the table, someone must still need it. Despite how much we felt we ate, neither of us gained weight in Italy — which may just prove the freshness and health of the basic ingredients used for every recipe.

I’m excited to host a few dinner parties this year with friends and employ some of the lessons learned from our Italian friends. Buying fresh, local and simple ingredients, prepping ahead of time, paying attention to aesthetics, and then letting the food simply play a part in a night in the company of friends.

Sounds like a recipe for a perfect dinner. Buon Appetito!

* * *

Italians taught me how to eat well is part of our Summer Series.

Site Spotlight: Brown Eyed Baker

By: Red Velvet

It’s no secret that I love to bake. I’m constantly on the lookout for new recipes to try (when I have time and my family isn’t bugging… I mean begging, me for red velvet cupcakes) and one of my go-to blogs for recipes is Brown Eyed Baker.  Not only do I love the name of her blog (I’m a brown-eyed gal myself) but I can always count on her recipes to turn out great.
 
She’s got everything from coconut chocolate chunk brownies to buttermilk biscuits to fig and almond cheesecake to mocha cupcakes - the list goes on and on. (My mouth is watering as we speak!) And for you pet lovers, she’s even got doggy treats (unexpected, right?). There’s just such a variety - you can’t visit her site and NOT find a recipe to try out.  
 
And on top of all the usual recipes and wonderful pictures (she’s a photographer too), her site also has: tutorials (for making pie crusts, frosting cookies, etc.), a “bucket list” of all the recipes she eventually wants to try and a baking FAQ.  
 
In case you couldn’t tell already, I’m a big, big fan.
 
Here are some of the recipes I’ve tried:
Artichoke Spinach Dip
All-Occasion Sugar Cookies
Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
Snickerdoodles - love this one!

Please check out her site and follow her on Twitter (@browneyedbaker) - you won’t be disappointed!


(Source: Yahoo! News)

Me a Cook?

By: Funfetti

In middle school, I burnt graham crackers in a friend’s microwave making s’mores. I couldn’t get the chocolate to melt, and didn’t remember the graham crackers were still in there until I saw smoke pouring out of the microwave. I think I knew then and there I would never be a cook.

(Source)

Read More

In the Kitchen

By: Red Velvet

A couple years ago, my two younger cousins and I started doing weekly Saturday night dinners.  I’d usually send out an email with a bunch of recipes (my go-to site being allrecipes.com) and let them decide on one.  Come Saturday afternoon, they’d pick me up and off to the grocery we’d go.  That was an adventure in itself.  The three of us roaming about, sometimes unable to find ingredients (or know what they are).  An hour later we’d be over at their house chopping and cooking away (with my aunt standing nearby laughing).  Then another two hours later (I know, we’re a bit slow!) we’d all sit down for dinner before ending our night with either a movie or Guitar Hero.  It used to be the highlight of my week (and my aunt’s since it gave her a break from the kitchen).

The tradition has fallen by the wayside lately with everyone being busy and other holidays coming up but I miss it.  We’ve tried so many fun recipes - Taqueria style beef tacos, chicken quesadillas, sloppy joe sandwiches, pizza bagels, homemade mac & cheese, tuna casserole, pizza casserole and more.  But my favorite?  Chicken & shrimp pad thai.

Read More