beauty life

• Ranch Biscuit Sandwiches
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, Hidden Valley® Original Ranch Salad® Dressing & Seasoning Mix, baking powder, and salt. Slowly pour in ¾ cup cream, using fork to incorporate it into dry ingredients. Add a little more cream if mixture looks dry, forming a soft, shaggy dough.
  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and pat into 1"-thick square. Cut square into quarters and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake biscuits until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.
  Meanwhile, heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is very hot, crack eggs into skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook until white edges are golden brown and lacy and set around runny yolk, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plate.
  Split biscuits in half and top each with 2 slices tomato. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and top with fried egg. Sandwich with top half of biscuit (and grab a bunch of napkins!).
  PR
  • beauty life
  • 2015/09/08 16:06
  • 0
• summer cocktail
  
  Grass vodka and fresh herbs join forces to make a deliciously earthy and easy summer cocktail.  Start by infusing some lemonade with a couple sprigs of rosemary, fresh sliced cucumber and blood orange; let it steep overnight if possible.  Add 1-2 ounces of grass vodka to an ice filled glass, followed by equal parts infused lemonade and blood orange San Pellegrino.  Garnish as desired with rosemary or slices of blood orange.
  
  Try it again with lavender in the place of rosemary and make a pitcher for your friends…or just yourself, I won’t judge.
  • beauty life
  • 2014/06/19 16:48
  • 0
• food porn for all ages
  
  were my mother’s favorite dessert. I grew up listening to the story about how she would go to the small bakery by her high school every day after school to eat with her friends. In several occasions she told me that she wouldn’t mind being hungry all day so that she would have enough money to spend on profiteroles .
  Like I said, I never understood how one would love something so much knowing that it is not good for you. I guess I couldn’t because I have a different personality. However, I am changed. This experience taught me to respect others decisions about their lives.
  Today, I know that life is and should be all about those moments that we are happy. At the end of the day, happy moments are all we can take with us when we die. At least, that is my hope
  So I decided to make this mother’s day a day for me to celebrate those happy moments that I had with my mother when we made and ate together. I am a very lucky daughter for having such a wonderful mother, who not only thought me how to cook but also how to enjoy eating.
  
  As complicated as they may look, these are so easy and quick to make. After making the dough (pate au choux) all you have to do is bake it for 18-20 minutes. Once baked, cut each ball in half, place a scoop of your favorite ice cream (I love my homemade vanilla ice cream) in the middle, and drizzle it with a quick chocolate sauce. I love some chopped pistachios on top for some color and crunch, but it is totally optional .
  Here, I even made a video of how it looks, which I would like to call “food porn for all ages.”
  • beauty life
  • 2014/05/14 15:27
  • 0
• I never understood her
  
  I am still trying to figure out what I should do or how I should feel on mother’s day. What happens to those who do not have a mother on mother’s day?
  It is hard to watch the mother’s day related commercials or to read e-mails asking me what I am planning to get for my mother. I know it is all marketing to sell their products, but it feels like salt on my wound .
  Loosing someone you love gives you a different perspective in life. In time, you learn to deal with the pain and realize things will never be the same. More than anything, you grow up. At least that is what happened (or is still happening) to me .
  
  I feel like I am not the person that I used to be. Just to give you an example, I used to feel so angry when my mother ate desserts. She was a diabetic and was supposed to be very careful with her sugar consumption. She loved sweets and couldn’t care less. She would tell me that if she is going to die from eating what she loved, so be it.
  I never understood her. At least at the time…
  Today when I look back, I am glad she ate all the sweets she wanted. It made her happy, and now for me, it feels good to know that she was happy .
  • beauty life
  • 2014/05/14 15:26
  • 0
• starts to hold together
  
  I’m determined to unravel the secret of great biscuits and I think I may be getting close. Last weekend we were over at Elephant’s Deli getting a few things to go and while we were waiting I couldn’t help but notice the biscuits they had, they were enormous with a beautiful golden color, absolutely screaming to be eaten, so of course I got one “for later” and it was really really good, crispy outside and delicate inside. I dare say as good as Pine State Biscuits which are just spectacular. If you’re ever in Portland you will definitely want to visit Pine State, they have a place on Alberta St. which can be tricky to get into with long lines, but they also have a food truck at the PSU farmer’s market on Saturdays. But then again you can just make your own! Which is what I did, and these came out delicious, not quite as tall as I’d hoped for but definitely creamy and light with a bit of crunch on the outer crust. I think using the cake flour really helps create this delicate texture. As far as the height of the biscuit goes, I cut the dough probably closer to 1/2” in thickness, so next time I’ll try to cut them a bit thicker and see if they rise up more. These are so easy to make and I’m really happy with how this recipe turned out. They hold up really well for sandwiches and didn’t completely fall apart.
  
  Dice butter into small chunks then place in a bowl and return to refrigerator until ready to use.
  
  Whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork, work cold butter into dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir until well combined and forms large clumps. With your hands knead mixture until it starts to hold together .
  
  Place dough on floured surface and pat down into a rectangle. Using a lightly floured rolling pin gently roll until dough is 1/2” - 3/4” in height.
  
  Flour a 2-3” biscuit cutter and press down and twist for each biscuit (3" will give you about 6-7 biscuits). Gather remaining dough and hand form what’s left over.
  
  Place biscuits about 2” apart on parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter. Place in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes .
  
  Remove from oven and place biscuits on cooling rack.
  • beauty life
  • 2014/04/08 17:20
  • 0