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For St. Patty's Day, I decided to do something involving Guinness...cause that and Bailey's are the best part of the day! Although I must say I was reminiscing about my old elementary school and how they'd leave green foot prints and glitter on the paths to the old gym where we'd find mint milkshakes, irish potatoes, and green cupcakes every year. Even though we knew what was coming it was so exciting!
     But now that I'm old(er), it was time for something a little more grown up. After realizing all the recipes I found for beer braised short ribs required a slow cooker for 10 hours, I decided to do a little combining of recipes. Basically I used parts of Hubert Kellers Red Wine Braised Short Rib recipe and substituted beer for the wine and left out a few of the ingredients that wouldn't have paired well with the heavy, stouty goodness of Guinness....mmm.

Read on for the recipe and step by step photos!


 
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I'd never had scallops before last night....and I'd been watching people make them on Top Chef and hearing how wonderful they were from so many people that I finally decided to give them a try. I went on a crazy Scallop Recipe hunt and found this Scallop Provencal recipe at Annie's Eats and thought, well nothing provencal could ever be bad, so let's try it! And I was absolutely right mmmm....I served mine with steamed kale and basmati rice. The sauce of the scallops adds just the right amount of rich flavor to keep those two components flavorful.

Read more below for recipes and photos...


 
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Happy Purim! Decided to make Hamantaschen this year (as I have most years of my life) just to keep up with tradition. Unfortunately there was no Purimspiel or noisemakers...well not toy noisemakers = )

Ingredients (makes about 32 cookies)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
2 eggs
Filling (Any kind of preserves, poppy seeds, chocolate chips, mini M&Ms...)

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Directions
  • Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in large bowl. Cut butter in until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
  • Mix lemon zest, vanilla extract, and eggs in a separate bowl. Stir into flour mixture until dough forms a ball (you may have to use your hands. Don't be afraid to get dirty! It's the best part of baking...I'm still covered in flour = )  )
  • Cover and refrigerate dough for about 2 hours or until firm.
  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Roll half the dough at a time to 1/8" thick on a lightly floured cloth-covered surface. Cut into 3" rounds (I use the top of a tall tumbler as my cutter. It's a quick and easy trick!)
  • Spoon 1 level teaspoon of the filling you choose onto each round (We used apricot and strawberry preserves..and some chocolate chips for fun). Bring up 3 sides and pinch corners to form a triangular shape (which mimics the shape of Haman's *noisemaker!* tri-cornered hat).
  • Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 - 15 minutes and remove to rack immediately. Voila tower of hamantaschen = )