Fall Semester in Photos

This treat transports me to fall, where trees are exploding with warm colors, squash are in season, school is in full swing and it's time to carve the pumpkin! It is my favorite time of the year, it signals a new start, the fresh crisp evening air is rejuvenating and I feel reborn. Pumpkin muffins are certainly a treat, I'm a pumpkin enthusiast, if it's got pumpkin - I'm sure to love it. For something extra delicious and to satisfy my chocolate cravings I add dark chocolate chips to the batter before dividing it among the muffin tins. My absolute favorite way to bake them is with granola on the top, and a dash of cinnamon - it adds sweet crunch!







She looks like she is about to say something profound, but can't find the words.



Illy is the best coffee I have yet to taste, roasted to perfection, not too acidic, very smooth finish and leaves a chocolate-y taste in your mouth. I'll admit I am pretty obnoxious about my brew, if it's not just right, I don't drink it. One of these containers is about 11-14$ -- it's a treat but well worth the investment. To me, no price is too great if I can guarantee that I will awake to the perfect cup every morning. The only competition Illy has run up against is Nespresso. Illy has temporarily taken a back seat now that *thank you for indulging my habits, Ian* a Nespresso maker sits on my countertop.



On a week where I didn't have clinical because I was rotating between MedSurg and Maternity -- I knew exactly how I would spend my extra time - making homemade applesauce and an apple crumble. So I headed over to Easton to check out a "pick your own" apple farm -- which turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment. Not only did they use pesticides *I make an exception when I'm peeling the fruit* - not uncommon - they sell "farm fresh" applesauce, chock full of high fructose corn syrup! *Gasp* Given their prices, I was disappointed in the lack of integrity. However, I found some great Jonagolds -- which I find to be the best for pies and sauce. They were fairly massive, which cuts down on peeling time. The applesauce I made goes great on top of peanut butter toast with a dash of cinnamon, or with greek yogurt. Either way, it's a no fail. * The above is a picture of my apple crumble, which only lasted twenty four hours in my house. It's one of the easiest and best recipes.



My biggest culinary disappoint has been the reccuring glitch in my meringue recipes. For instance, the above was a failure - a delicious failure but a failure none the less. In this instance, the reason that they lost air and thus turned out a bit chewy was because I accidentally used ground almonds instead of ground BLANCHED almonds. This was attempt one. Attempt two is still a mystery -- it was a Macarons de Paris recipe that I found on epicurious. If you're unfamiliar, they are macaroons sandwiched between ganache (and when I say macaroon I mean the egg white/almond/cookie type confection - sans coconut). Though I did everything correct *I think* something happened when I folded the ground almond into the egg white. I may have ground the blanched almonds down too much to the point where they were closer to almond butter than anything else. Attempt three bombed because the oven was too hot and there wasn't enough sugar. Needless to say, the day I make macaroons/meringue correctly I will feel invincible! While I hate when my recipes don't turn out, when things aren't perfect - I am beginning to see it as progress, not failure.





Trying to come up with meatless but hearty lunches, I topped a french baguette with sundried tomato tapenade with fresh arugula and goat cheese. Quick, easy, and beautiful. I had to take a picture, beautiful food always tastes better.





Sunday morning, I call this recipe my "Bleeding Heart French Toast" -- a nod to one of my favorite flowers. In honesty it looks like an organ is bleeding out on my plate but mmmmm so delicious. It is toasted spelt bread soaked in a milk, honey, egg, and cinnamon mixture thrown on a non-stick and very hot pan until golden and crispy. Instead of making it a sugar laden breakfast by adding maple syrup, I instead blended some blueberries and raspberries after heating them quickly on the stove. I added a dash of honey and lemon zest and voila! This was when the garden was still fruitful with my ever invading spearmint, so I garnished the plate with that and a scoop of plain yogurt.

Spice is nice

Before an update on the adventures of my senior year in nursing school, I owe a few recipes - here's one for the vegetable enthusiast! It's a spicy southwestern vegetable stew, with roasted pepper salsa, diced avocado and organic blue corn tortilla chips. Isn't she pretty?

Alexa's Spicy Vegetable Stew

- 1 (large) can of organic diced stewed tomatoes - if you only have small, or need more liquid + > 1 cup of vegetable stock

- 1 can of chick peas (you can use dried, cook before adding)

- 1 garlic clove diced

- 1 1/2 tbs. of olive oil

- 1 green bell pepper, diced

- 1 yellow squash, diced

- 1 small yellow onion, diced

- 1/2 jar of roasted red peppers, diced

- 1 zucchini, diced

- 3 tsps (=1 tBs.) of cumin - > 1 1/2 tsp added to vegetables, another 1 1/2 tsp added to liquid

- 3 TBS. chili powder

- 1/2 tsp. cayenne (spicy!)

- salt & pepper to taste

* substitute with whatever you have on hand

- > Saute med-low heat: 1) olive oil with garlic (to infuse) 2) green bell pepper 3) yellow onion. When everything is in, saute for 3-5 minutes, stirring. These veggies take longer to cook, which is why I add them first. When onions begin to soften, add the diced squash, zucchini and 1 1/2 tsp. cumin (turn down heat). Add roasted red peppers. --- Then add the tomatoes, (and vegetable stock if using), and rest of spices. Cook 5 minutes. Add chickpeas and let simmer 25-30 minutes over medium heat, or until vegetables are soft and delicious.

Roasted Red Pepper Salsa

In a mixing bowel, combine:

- 1 small tomato diced (or 1/4 cup of diced canned)

- 5 cloves of garlic diced small (good for the heart!)

- 1 zucchini diced small

- 1 jar of roasted red peppers, chopped

- 1-2 jalapenos (with or w/o seeds. seeds = spice) diced small

- 1/2 onion, diced small

- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

- a dash (or two, or three...) of cayenne

- salt&pepper to taste

-- > this salsa is even better day 2, so try and make ahead of time.

Serve vegetable stew with a few blue corn tortilla chips sprinkled on top, and a heaping spoonful of roasted red pepper salsa. YUM!

Well, the four days spent in Italy were fantastic! We swam in the Mediterannean *never thought I'd say that*, went snorkling, there were fresh figs in arms reach *I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming*, wonderful seafood, gelato, foccacia, espresso, and exploration..... I could have stayed and continued this gluteny indefinitely and lived a wonderful life of sin. Saturday came, our day to head off on our adventure, map in hand.... but we started off on the wrong foot, with a missed boat to Montorosso, the day continued to reveal that our plan was not fool proof. Turns out we had decided to backpack down the Cinqua Terre on the wrong week - the Italian National Holiday. The Cinqua Terre is on the Italian Riviera, in the Liguria region including five breathtaking villages, mountains dropping off into the sea, we had planned to set up camp at a hotel or hostel and do the backpacking during the day. After visiting every hotel, inn, and hostel in Montorosso (I'm being dramatic - there aren't THAT many, but still, it was really hot) we threw up our hands, ordered a few drinks and decided we would train it back to Switzerland, in a few hours.....