Bourbon Marshmallow & Bacon S'Mores

Homemade marshmallows have to be one of my favorite things to make. They seem so decadent, but are really very simple. These Bourbon Marshmallows were ridiculously good, and I'm pretty sure you shouldn't eat too many and drive. S'mores are a beautiful dessert that recall memories of camping, the smell of a  bonfire, and perhaps the innocence of childhood. It's the perfect dessert. As if the bourbon wasn't enough to make these s'mores AWESOME, we put bacon on them. Woah. The bacon craze has been full swing for some time now, but if your still not jumping on the bandwagon this is the perfect starter dessert.

Bourbon Marshmallows:

Adapted from How Sweet it Is

3 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold bourbon

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method:

Oil a 9 x 13 baking pan and coat with powdered sugar. 

With an electric mixer mix water and gelatin on low using the whisk attachment. Let the water & gelatin sit while you heat the sugar mixture.

In a medium pot combine sugar, bourbon, syrup and salt. Heat over low heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved. (About 3-5 Minutes) Turn heat up to medium and let sugar come to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil for 8-12 minutes, until it reaches 240 degrees F. 

Once the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, take off heat and gently pour into the gelatin mixture with the mixer on low. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 6-8 minutes. 

Use a separate bowl to beat the egg whites. If you don't have a hand mixer, clean the whisk attachment before whipping the egg whites. Once stiff peaks form add the egg whites and vanilla to the sugar/gelatin mixture and beat until just combined. 

Pour marshmallow mix into the pan. It will be very sticky and you will need a spatula that has been sprayed with non stick spray to smooth the marshmallow top. Dust powdered sugar on top and let sit between 3-5 hours, until firm. Once firm, turn the pan upside down (you may have to loosen the edges). Cut the marshmallows in whatever shape and size you like. 

Mmmhmm. I may have to make these again this weekend, gosh they were good.

Weekly Flowers

Flowers have become a weekly purchase for us at Trader Joe's. Living five blocks from a TJ's has definitely increased our quality of life. Okay- maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it's pretty great. While their selection isn't huge, there is something for everyone. Our hyacinth purchase from last week is still going (& smelling) strong, and Joe bought me a new bunch just to be sweet. When Joe & I first got married buying flowers was a luxury. It was reserved for special occasions and would have never been done on a weekly basis. A lot of things have changed for us, and affording flowers is not such a huge thing; however, it is just a sweet to have them sitting on my table.
Do you buy flowers? You'd be surprised how much they can make you smile. 

Food & Fashion

So... this was supposed to be a "She Bakes" post. Last night I spent most of the evening preparing & baking Milk Bar's Corn Cookies. When I went to check on the first batch after the ding of the timer I found GINORMOUS corn cookies. I mean like the size of Rémy's head ginormous. The cookies had completely spread together... and were just plain UGLY. I tasted them... hmm. Not the life changing experience everyone had said it would be. Did I forget something? I went back and looked down the list of ingredients. (insert expletive). The flour. THE FLOUR. I spent several minutes weighing out the corn powder and flour to make corn flour, but I forgot to add the rest of the unbleached flour. Are you kidding me? This is not my first rodeo... and I forgot the flour. I was so irritated with myself. Of course I had used up the rest of my corn powder, and honestly I didn't have it in me to remake them last night. I just went to bed. So it will have to be a "Food & Fashion" post for today. 

All week I have been seeing friend's & family's facebook/instagram/tweets about the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Chili cook off. For those of you who weren't blessed to have lived in Houston- rodeo season and chili cook off is one of the highlights of the year and the place to be! That being said, I've been feeling a little homesick. My sweet husband offered to treat me to a lunch at Hill Country Barbecue to help ease the pain a bit. When you step in it's like you're back in the Lone Star State, and it feels good. Not only does it feel like home, but it could also give some BBQ joints in Texas a serious run for their money. If you are a Texpat in need of a little taste of home (or you are wise enough to love you some Texas BBQ) you will love Hill Country. It will be your favorite restaurant in town... I swear.

It was a beautiful (windy) 50 degrees today in DC and the perfect opportunity to walk around without an overcoat. Something I will never take for granted again. I have been dying to wear my new denim jacket, and today was the day.

Denim Jacket: J. Crew
Sweater: H&M
Cafe Capris: J. Crew
Darby Loafer: J. Crew (similar)
Sunglasses: J. Crew (similar)

She Bakes

My first recipe to tackle in the Milk Bar cookbook was their famous Crack Pie. I used the recipe out the the cookbook, but here is an adapted version from Bon Appetit:

Ingredients

Oat Cookie Crust

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 5 1/2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
• 6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preparation

Oat Cookie Crust

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.

Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 20 minutes longer. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.

Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.

While this pie did not come out perfect, it was pretty dang awesome. It's J's new favorite thing. On the docket for this weekend? Milk Bar's Corn Cookies. 

I ♥ Friday

It's the best day of the week y'all! Normally I commute on the Metro, but today Joe is working from home- so that means I get to drive! Today is even better.  I get to leave a whole 30 minutes later. Whoop! Some people would have slept an extra 30 minutes... not me. I would rather get an extra 30 minutes for my morning routine. I know... I'm odd. 

I hope that today is a successful end to the work week and a relaxing beginning of the weekend. 

Just for funsies, enjoy this sweet picture of Rémy. 

My booboo.

Food & Family

Here are some more pictures from our weekend with Terry & Maren. When the Weinberger women are in town the main event is always food. I'm totally good with that. We enjoyed dinner on Saturday at Good Stuff Eatery and brunch on Sunday at our favorite, Oyamel. If you are in the area run to these restaurants. You will not be disappointed.  

Sunday was a super cold & super windy day. A trip to DC really is not complete without a walk down the mall, so we bundled up and made the best of it. We also made a stop at POV at the W, it was just a little too chilly to enjoy though. Perhaps in the spring we will have a better go of it. We so enjoyed having these ladies for the weekend, and having guests always reminds me how much I love where I live.  

Hey- tomorrow is Friday! We're almost there.

Saturday Project

A week or so ago I mentioned a Saturday project. It took a bit of time, but our chalkboard wall is finally ready to show off. 

     

     

     

    

       It was a fun project, and I am loving this new creative outlet in our home.

 (Gotta love my unpedicured toe in the corner of the last picture. Lovely.)

Virginia Wine Country

As I mentioned here , we enjoyed a wintery day at Paradise Springs Winery on Saturday. The tasting room itself is very open and felt as if you were at ski lodge. The tasting bar was small and very crowded, we luckily missed the crowd and were able to get a spot where we all fit (sorta). After our tasting we enjoyed a bottle on the terrace on plush couches and a warm fire. It was pretty perfect. If this is your thing and you live, or are visiting the DC area I highly suggest Paradise Springs. It was only about 45 minutes away, and the drive itself was relatively scenic. 

                                  

 

More pictures from Maren & Terry's visit coming soon. If you had a long weekend, it's already Tuesday! Only three days till Friday. 

What I Wore: Vineyard Edition

Yesterday J & I, along with his mom and sister headed into the Virginia wine country for a tasting at Paradise Springs Winery. The scenery was beautiful and the wine even better (pics to come). Luckily I had the perfect cabernet sweater for the occasion. 

What I wore:

Sweater & Bracelets: J Crew 

Jeans: Citizen of Humanity 

Loafers & Watch: Anne Klein

I ♥ Friday

Happy, Happy Friday! 

I only have to go in for a half day to give our room a deep clean because there was an outbreak of the norovirus and they have closed the school. I'm glad my health is so valued. Thankfully it seems I have escaped the infamous bug, and I really am thanking my lucky stars. J's mom and sister are flying in today, and we have a really fun DC weekend planned. I would hate to have to be quarantined because of being sick. Anywho, If this were a fashion blog, and I had a job where casual friday was a thing this is what I would wear:

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XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day! 

We hope you feel extra loved today, especially by us! 

Rémy is sending you energetic hugs and slobbery kisses. 

XOXO

She Bakes

As I mentioned Sunday was a baking day for me, 

and this is the cake that came out of it. 

Honestly, it was not that much of a success. 

It was fine, but I will never use a recipe from 

that book again.I will leave out which book it was, 

but really I should have known better. 

On Saturday Joe & I made our first trip (together) to the library,

and I got Momfuku's Milk Bar & Bouchon Bakery. 

I can't wait to share my adventures while I make my way through those books. 

Happy Tuesday!

What I See & What I Wore

Sunday was filled with errands and baking. We made trips to Costco & Trader Joe's, and Joe played his xbox while I baked... typical. Here are some pictures of what I was seeing yesterday... and what I wore. 

What I'm wearing:

Shirt, Minnies, & pave bracelet: Jcrew

Earrings: Anthropologie 

Loafers: Dolce Vita

Happy Monday, everyone. Only four days till Friday!

Food & Fashion Date Night

Yesterday Joe and I had a great dinner date at DC Coast. After completing a fun Saturday project  (pictures to come) I went all out on getting ready for our date. I took a bath, played girly music,  and even soaked in bubbles. I felt very single. Since we now have a three level home and two bathrooms we can both get ready in different places, and then meet downstairs all ready to go. It was actually very romantic and I felt a lot of anticipation. One of my favorite bloggers Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo, suggested meeting your significant other at the bar/restaurant rather than leaving together to spice up the evening. We were living in San Antonio at the time and there weren't many walkable restaurants (or good public transit for that matter). Now that we are in DC I have been dying to do this. On our staycation (see this post) we met at the hotel. Joe arrived just as I was getting in the elevator. I looked up and there he was, and I had butterflies. It's good that still happens. I hope to try meeting at the bar soon. 

As for what we ate, I only had my iPhone with me so I'll share those pictures later. The food was very good, and the decor was even better. DC Coast is very opulent feeling with decor featuring a nod to the 1930s. With their name on the butter and a mermaid garnish in my Fig Sidecar, I couldn't forget where we were. My drink was the most memorable decision of the evening, it was perfect. Will we go back?  No, probably not. Should you go? If you love seafood houses and "old school" dining, yes! The food,    atmosphere, and drinks will not disappoint.  

As for what I wore:

Earrings all the way to my toes: Anthropologie

With the exception of my necklace.  

This was not on purpose. 

I may need to expand my horizons a bit...

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and even better week! 

Wish List: St. Valentine's Day Edition

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With Valentine's day around the corner, here are some things on my heart day wish list. Rather than brave the crowds (and prices) on the 14th we are celebrating this evening at DC Coast, but really J & I should celebrate our love and commitment to each other everyday. Hope you are enjoying your Saturday. We are completing a project in the house that I'm dying to share with you! Soon, soon!