Butter

Hello October, Hello (and goodbye) Dublin

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

I can’t believe it’s nearly the end of October- this year is flying by and we’re already in the midst of the -Ber months! 

The last month has been AMAZING.  I finished my role and delivered a great strategy, went to an amazing leadership conference, had the best time in Dublin, and had Thomas’s first Communion- and once again I have a bit of free time which means, more COOKIES!

First of all, Dublin.

I’m super lucky that I feel absolutely at home in three places around the world- Washington, Sydney, and Dublin.  Despite never actually living there, it’s a place that feels so familiar and so easy for me.  I have best friends there and really close friends, and it’s a place that always fills my cup.  So much so, that I would love to move there one day.  I don’t know if it will ever happen, but when I make a list of pros and cons, the list of pros is VERY long and the list of cons is VERY short.  (The weather and actually moving anywhere is stressful!)  But it was a fabulous trip, with fabulous people and I loved every moment of it! I know Ireland isn’t known for it’s food but honestly, the butter, bread and the seafood chowder are all next level! Irish butter- so good! I could go on about it for hours!

Secondly, Cookies.

Now that my contract has finished and my next one is TBC – I should find out this week!  I have time on my hands which is both weird and familiar.  Weird because I feel like the last 8 months have been go go go, and familiar because, well it’s like last year but without the mental anguish of being made redundant.  Plus, I’m far more into cookies than I was last year.  I can’t believe it’s been over a year that I’ve been baking every week.  Part of me wants to branch out and do something new, the other part of me has really painted myself into the cookie corner.  It’s expected now and it’s hard to disappoint people.  Plus, I’m not taking requests…. Which is really where I’m coming unstuck!

So this week, because I supposedly have “time” on my hands- even though I feel super busy!  I”ve baked nearly every day.  

Monday was Brown Butter Nilla Wafers from Christina Tosi’s All About Cookies Book.

Tuesday was Potato Chip Sandies- also from Christina Tosi and I also had to start on my request for the week- Apple Crumble Cookies from Andy Cooks.  These are A LOT of work but I’m looking forward to them!  Yesterday I made the dough and apple topping, tomorrow I need to make the crumble and bake them.  A lot of work but I think they will be yummy!

Next week I’ll likely do brown butter chocolate chip cookies– stay tuned!!!

What we ate this week…We’ve got Sauce…

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

Also, week 2 of our new blog format.

So, last week started with Father’s Day dinner and it actually turned out better than I expected.  I believe the phrase, “These are the best potatoes I’ve ever had” was uttered at least once.  Which was a win for me- and everyone to be honest.  Also, I got to have bearnaise sauce which means it was a good day.

What else we ate last week. 

A Char Siu Bun Salad from Every Night of The Week which was delicious and loved by the Team BUT required A LOT of steps for a Monday night.  It was more of a Sunday salad if I’m honest.  It was a pretty easy recipe, but  there was pickling involved- and honestly, who has time for that on a Monday night.

Tuesday was Gourmet Traveller’s Taco Rice and I cannot stress enough how much I love this recipe.  First of all, it’s an Asian/Mexican fusion dish that combines BOTH of my favorite cuisines.  It’s easy, fast and tasty- and involves chips.  What else could you want for a Tuesday night?

Thursday we had Neil Perry’s Taglioni with Crab.   It’s hard to go wrong with pasta, crab, or Neil Perry so it was good.

We had some unexpectedly sad news this week (Sad in a first world problem way).  Our favorite local burger place is closing down, BurgerHead.  It’s a go-to weekend burger staple for us– and I think I saw actual tears leave Thomas’ eyes when we told him the news.   Our neighborhood doesn’t have the best food options (as compared to everywhere else I’ve lived in Sydney) so this could mean more cooking on the weekend or more meals further afield.  

We also visited our one-time favorite Fried Chicken place in Sydney– Butter in Surry Hills.    When I lived in Surry Hills (a lifetime ago), it was right down the street and certainly one of the coolest places for fried chicken I’ve ever been.  Honeymoon Chicken still wears the crown of all time, best, most favorite and amazing Fried Chicken in the world but Butter could have the Sydney crown.    Bowery to Williamsburg’s Chicken and Waffles in Melbourne are pretty good too.

So what’s on for this week?

Soy Glazed Pork Cutlets with Japanese Slaw from Gourmet Traveller on Sunday will get a run before I put the Gourmet Traveller magazine back on the shelf upstairs.

BLT Salad on Monday night from the I Heart Naptime cookbook.  I’ll also make the Chicken Taquitos from there on Tuesday.  I Heart Naptime is actually a great cookbook for time poor parents- everything takes less than an hour and is kid friendly.   I don’t love the name (especially since it’s been ages since anyone in my house took a nap) but there are great baked treats (hello, Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread Muffins) and some pretty good dinners in there as well!

Thursday night we’ll do Steaks with Fries and Bearnaise sauce (because there’s leftover Bearnaise sauce and I love Bearnaise).

Friday night, we’ll probably sneak in a trip to Burgerhead.  We have 6 weeks before they close and I’ve only just discovered their Chicken burgers are pretty good!

So, that’s what we’re eating this week?  What’s on your menu?

What We Ate Last Week: Sweet Cheeses, Do you even KUNG PAO???- February 13th-20th

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

Well, it was Valentine’s Day week, and let me be brutally honest- I fell in love this week.  I have a new restaurant crush and I can’t wait to see it again.  I’ll explain

Saturday- Feb 13th– I met my crush.  I had read about a new restaurant during the week in Broadsheet and it sounded too good to be true.  A mythical place that played good music, served champagne with fried chicken, and sold limited edition sneakers…. What the?  You mean I can leave my house in comfy shoes and drink champagne?  Sign me up- do not pass go, do not phone a friend, I’m already on my way.  I mean, not that I ever would buy limited edition sneakers, but I love my Chuck Taylors and my Superstars.  But seriously, who cares about sneakers- Champagne and fried chicken. Continue reading →