This week we're attempting to enjoy winter.  Like for real.  Nothing screams winter like steaming bowls of chili and soup - yesterday I posted one of my favorite chili recipes - today, one of my favorite soups.  

I have a version of minestrone for every season.  In the winter it's packed with parsnips and kale.  Once it's spring I'll fill it with green beans and zucchini.  There's never a bad time for a hearty minestrone soup, but this winter version is so perfect right now.  

A girl friend of mine makes this every weekend after skiing.  It's such a good skiing soup! This recipe makes a TON of soup.  If you're making it for four, you will have left overs.  If you're making it for six, this is the right quantity.  Don't forget a loaf of bread to sop up everything that's left.

WINTER MINESTRONE

serves 4

STEP 1

In a large stock pot, cook onion, parsnips, carrots, 2 cloves garlic until onions are is soft.

STEP 2

Add tomatoes & beans & spices.  Stir to incorporate

STEP 3

Pour in stock and bring to a boil.

STEP 4

Add noodles, kale and cabbage and cook until noodles are done.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

1 onion

2 parsnips

3 carrots

2 cloves garlic

2 cups kale, chopped

2 cups cabbage, chopped

1 15oz-can kidney beans

1 15oz-can garbanzo beans

1 28oz-can diced tomatoes

6 cups vegetable stock

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

2 cups noodles

salt and pepper

½ cup parmesan cheese

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Does winter feel like it's dragging on?  I'm trying to revel in the cold weather since I know it won't last but it does get challenging after a little while... So let's make chili.  It's a great way to enjoy winter.  I mean, who eats chili in the summer?  No one eats chili in the summer. So make a hot bowl of chili, snuggle up in something cashmere, and remember it will warm up soon!

ROASTED POBLANO CHILI

serves 4

STEP 1

Roast chilies over an open flame or in the broiler.  Pop into a plastic bag and seal it tight. Let rest 5 minutes. 

STEP 2

Cook onion, garlic and turkey until turkey is cooked through.  Sprinkle the top with flour, cumin and oregano and stir to combine. 

STEP 3

Add stock and bring to a boil.

STEP 4

Remove chilies from the plastic bag and rub with a paper towel to remove most of the skins.  Chop chilies and add to soup. 

STEP 5

Mix dry ingredients for waffles then add milk, eggs, honey, and melted butter.  Mix to combine and cook in a waffle maker until done.  Let cool and cut into strips.

STEP 6

Serve chili topped with jack cheese, a squeeze of lime, and cornbread waffle sticks.

1 lb. ground turkey

1 lb. poblano chilies

6 cups chicken stock

2 cloves garlic

1 onion, chopped

1 tbs flour

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

s&p

1 lime

1 cup jack cheese, shredded

1 ¼ cup flour

1 ¼ cup cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

½ cup buttermilk

2 eggs

2 tbs honey

½ cup melted butter 

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Yesterday I shared a really really fast Chinese Chicken Wrap recipe that's super delicious.  You'll love it.  You'll love it even better with a quirky little cocktail inspired by Chinese New Year. 

Clearly, this is really un-authentic.  But that's not what I'm going for.  I like to celebrate.  I like to have a reason to celebrate and I think Chinese New Year is an awesome reason to celebrate.  Who doesn't love good Chinese food and a cocktail?  

Inspired by the sweet and spicy flavors in Chinese cuisine, I added a little Mandarin vodka to a regular Moscow Mule transforming it to a little something that everyone will love!  

MOSCOW MULE

Over a glass filled with ice, mix together vodka and ginger beer.  Garnish with wedges of mandarin oranges!  

2 ounces mandarin vodka

4 ounces ginger beer

slices of mandarin oranges

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Before I had children I hosted a Chinese New Year dinner every year!  I loved it.  It's a great excuse for a party and not one that most people in Seattle seem to think of.  Or we remember the day of because the kids come home from their assembly super excited about dragons and envelops with coins inside.  

I don't entirely know why I stopped.  Probably being overwhelmed by three kids did it.  But I'm determined to bring it back.  Even if it's just for the five of us - I will bring it back.  If you are more ambitious (or if I get more ambitious?) host a few friends and enjoy.

This dinner is one of the simplest dinners you can make - and it's so good.  Like addictive good.

CHINESE CHICKEN WRAPS

serves 4

STEP 1

Cook chicken with garlic and onion until chicken is browned. 

STEP 2

Mix hoisin, soy, vinegar, honey, ginger, chili oil, and stock in a bowl.

STEP 3

Add chestnuts, scallions, zucchini, and bell pepper to the pan then pour over the sauce.

STEP 4

Cook until veggies are softened. 

STEP 5

Serve on butter lettuce

2 lb ground chicken

2 cloves garlic

1 onion

¼ cup hoisin

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs grated ginger

2 tbs honey

1 tbs chili oil

¼ cup chicken stock

1 can water chestnuts, chopped

4 scallions, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 head butter lettuce

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All month Jordan of Oh Happy Day has been posting the most hilarious "Anti-Valentine" Valentine ideas.  Every time I'm scrolling through them I find myself giggling at her hilarious un-valentine sentiments, like "I need space" or "The magic is gone."

So when I started making one of my favorite cocktails - a Negroni - into something kind of fun for Valentines day, I realized the bitterness of the aperol lent itself perfectly to an anti-valentine cocktail!  

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART

makes 4

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake aperol and gin together.  Strain into four cocktail glasses, dividing the gin mixture equally.  Top with Blood Orange DRY Sparkling and serve while it's cold. Cin Cin. 

2 ounces Aperol 

4 ounces gin

Blood Orange DRY Sparkling

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In the event you forgot to get a dinner reservation for Valentine's Day - or if you're like me - you don't want to waste a perfectly good evening out on a prix fix menu and overly crowded restaurants. - let's eat in!

I have become a master of the "indoor steak" technique over the last few years for a number of reasons, but mostly because it is so freaking easy!  SO EASY!  It's how restaurants do their steaks - there aren't grills in most restaurants - so they skillet sear and broil them too.  It keeps in the moisture (worst word ever) and creates the deliciously crispy crust on the outside.

The video will show you how easy it is to cook steak in the oven + a bonus cocktail and a side dish you can make in minutes.  (Also, my cute husband is at the end)

Steak au Poivre

serves 4

4 NY Strip steaks

4 tbs crushed peppercorns

2 tbs butter

2 shallot, chopped

½ cup cognac

½ cup beef stock

3 large russet potatoes, sliced in rounds

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp flake salt

STEP 1

Preheat the broiler to 500 degrees. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until the pan is smoking hot.  Pat the steaks dry and push each one into the peppercorns. 

STEP 2

Pop the steaks on the hot skillet.  Sear 3 minutes each side until browned.

STEP 3

Toss potatoes in olive oil and salt.  Spread out on a baking sheet and pop in the lowest rack in the oven for 5 minutes.  Check and flip as needed to brown them but not burn them.

STEP 4

Top each steak with ½ tbs butter and pop the pan into the oven.  Cook 5-8 minutes until meat thermometer reads 145 degrees. Remove from the oven and let rest covered on a plate with foil for 5 minutes.

STEP 5

Place pan on a high burner and pour in shallots – cook quickly.  Add cognac & stock and whisk.  Season with salt.  Cook to reduce by 1/2.  Plate steaks and top with sauce.

NOTES

-       Traditionally this is cooked with heavy cream.  That didn’t seem needed with this gorgeous steak but if you want to add ½ cup cream with the sherry, it’s delicious.

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I don't think you need me to tell you how to make it romantic at home.  But I will remind you that music helps.  A lot.  Have music.  

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I am so lucky to have a great group of girlfriends who are supportive, fun, and are always ready for a gif in the text string.  This January seemed to take us down hard.  Everyone got sick, or their kids got sick, or something dramatic happened that kept us all apart.  

We're due for a girls day.  One involving booze.  

I can't wait to celebrate my lady loves with a fun boozy brunch.  This one is so simple that you can whip it up after the kids have left for school and be done in time for a p.j. clad brunch before 9am! (My kids leave at 7:30am)

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We don't usually go out for Valentine's Day.  We used to.  But then with kids it became more challenging for us to find a sitter, a reservation, and a restaurant we'd want to spend a fortune at for a prix fix menu.  

So we stay at home.  It's fun to spend time with the kids and do something special for them.  I started making a family friendly valentine's dinner when my oldest was a baby and the tradition has carried on.

And then we go out to dinner another night when it's not the night every other couple goes out to dinner.

My favorite part is having them make their own heart shaped pizzas.  They could make plain shapes too, I guess, but it's Valentine's!  Have a little fun with it!  For my kids, all I really need is cheese and pepperoni.  But you can add olives, bell pepper, sausage, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and different kinds of cheese - like feta.

In the video I made fun soda floats with my kids.  It's a simple option that's a huge win for the kids - and doubles as dessert.  But I really really like dessert and I am not the hugest fan of soda floats...

The point is to have a fun cocktail that's just for the kids.  Floats are a great time for everyone - but Shirley Temple's are just as popular.  My kids also love Dry Soda's - the Rainier Cherry flavor is a favorite!  

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The room that used to be the master bed room is turning into an office/study/computer room that I've decided to call the library.  I like library so much better.  It will have loads of books in the room since I have stacks and stacks of books in the guest room now.  So it does make sense.  

Otherwise, I'm not 100% sure what we're doing with this room.  It will probably have a piano too?   Feeling totally unsure of this space.  I know what I like and what I'm drawn too.  

I do know that this room needs shelves for books + a desk for a computer.  And probably some seating.  There's a chance we'll incorporate some "guest room" elements into this room?  We are accustomed to having a guest room and the new plan doesn't explicitly have one. This space would possibly serve that function.  But it doesn't need a TV - there's one in the living room adjacent.  We don't watch enough television to make two TVs in ten feet of each other make sense.  

Here's what we are hoping to achieve with this room

1. Create a computer space 

2. Build shelves for all of the books that are cluttered all over the house.

Here's how we're doing it

1. Building in shelves and a desk space that will hopefully hold all of the books.

2. Building in seating that could double as a twin bed.

3. Remove the bizarre door and old windows and replace with big windows and a sliding door.

We're actually going to separate off a section of the room to turn into storage.  The master bedroom is a ridiculously huge room because we think it used to be two bedrooms.  At some point, we think they removed the dividing wall and turned it into one giant room with two closets.    Turning the extra space into storage will help with all of the closets that are currently scattered around the house and are going away in the new plan.  

What do you think?  What would you use this room for?

xoxo, ali

shop my library inspiration

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I feel like you're going to think I'm exaggerating.  But I am not.  This cake is THE BEST.  People who don't actually like me that well in real life love this cake.  And they tell me they love the cake.  Trust me - they wouldn't do that if they didn't love the cake.  This cake is the best.

The best part is that it's barely any ingredients.  I think you spend more time fixing a box cake than it takes to make this from scratch.  

I have found that it's best with homemade jam.  But I realize that's not something that everyone keeps in their pantry.  I have loads because it's my favorite and my children hate strawberry jam.  Who could hate strawberry jam?  Something is wrong with them.  

STRAWBERRY JAM CAKE

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the bottom (not the sides) of two 9" round pans.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder and set aside.

STEP 2

In a large mixing bowl, neat together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Ad the vanilla until incorporated.  Add eggs, one at  a time, beating well after each one is added.  With the mixer on  medium speed, add the flour and the jam alternately beginning and ending with flour until both are fully incorporated.

STEP 3

Divide the batter between the pans and bake about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.  

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup strawberry jam

SIMPLE BUTTERY FROSTING

STEP 1

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until it's smooth.

STEP 2

Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until incorporated.  Once the sugar is incorporated turn the mixer to high speed and let it whip for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy.

STEP 3

Mix in the vanilla and any food coloring.  Use immediately!

4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla