My First Time: Framing

Until now, I've always used pre-matted, cheap frames from places like Bed, Bath and Beyond or Pier 1, but now I've dipped my toes into the (expensive) world of professional framing.

While heading home from a business trip in Europe I happened to be on the same flight as David Lynch, who happens to be one of T's favorite directors.  The only reason I knew what he looked like is T decided on a documentary about David Lynch to watch sometime before that.  Well, since I'm an amazing wife, I went up and told him how much my husband loved his work and asked for an autograph.  He was very nice and obliged me.

So our anniversary came around (November 21st) and I thought that framing this autograph would be a fantastic first anniversary gift (paper, check).

I also had some lovely nudes done by a friend of mine in Seattle, she wanted to find some good homes for her artwork and I was more than happy to take some off her hands.

I went to FrameStore in Culver City, because it was convenient, but I was really happy with the quality of the work and the assistance from the shopkeeper, Nancy, in helping me pick out so the frames and mats.

Here's a close up of the autograph with a snapshot of the director that I took at the Charles de Gaulle airport. It's sort of floating in a shadowbox frame with a black suede mat.  T loves it.

And here are the nudes by the lovely Heather Haws.  They are the perfect amount of sketchiness and softness, and the colors are just amazing.  They're our first 'real' pieces of artwork and I can't wait to add more to our home.

After getting over the sticker shock of custom framing, I have to say I'm hooked.  I think I'm going to have to try and keep myself in check by only framing things that are important to us, but I keep thinking about what I can get framed next.  The one tip I've got if you're going to get something framed is to give yourself some time at the frame store.  There are tons of mats and frames to choose from and it takes a little while to pick something perfect.

My First Time: Whoopie Pies

T bought me Baked Explorations recently, there might have been some heavy hinting on my part, but I'm still grateful.  It's fantastic, the photography is beautiful, the graphic design is cool and the recipes are delectable.

I was immediately drawn to the two whoopie pie recipes.  I had never made whoopie pies and I felt it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

I used the Chocolate Whoopie Pies recipe (p. 108) for the cookie portion and for the filling I used the cream cheese recipe from the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (p. 117).

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
-adapted from Baked Explorations.

3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup hot coffee
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

In large bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda.

In another large bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and coffee until cocoa is dissolved.

In a medium bowl, stir the sugars and oil together.  Add to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined.  Add the egg, vanilla and buttermilk, whisk until smooth.

Fold dry ingredients into the wet.

Drop by large rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cookies are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cookies completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies (2 dozen whoopie pies).

Cream Cheese Filling
-adapted from Baked Explorations

3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
food coloring (optional)

Cream butter and cream cheese together.  Add vanilla, salt and food coloring.  Add sifted powdered sugar in batches until filling reaches desired consistency.  I made these for Halloween (just felt a need to explain the haz mat suit orange).

Assemble the pies.  I started out by matching up cookies that were similar size and shape so I wasn't left with a weirdly paired pie at the end.  Then scoop on some filling and sandwich them up.  Mmmmm.

These cakey cookies came out great, they held together well, but were still soft and delicious.  I tend to hate coffee in desserts, but the coffee in this recipe just makes the chocolate better, no more no less.  Paired with cream cheese frosting (always a winner) these pies just couldn't be beat.  I will have to make these again as soon as I have a chance to give them away, or else I would absolutely eat them all.

Oh, I wish I could eat my screen right now.

Miraculously, these lasted a couple of days.  They were still fantastic the next day, but the day after that, they were on their way out, still good, but not as good.  So eat 'em quick, tough, I know.

My First Time: Riyadh

Not many pictures in this post, pictures of people aren't allowed for religious reasons, pictures of government buildings aren't allowed for security reasons and I can't show pictures of our projects for privacy reasons.  But here are some thoughts.

This was definitely an eye-opener.  I had a pretty sheltered existence while I was there, mainly being shuttled between my accommodations and our various meetings, I certainly wasn't able to venture out on my own (women can't drive).  I truly hate driving, so I'm OK with that (as long as I can afford someone to drive me where I want, when I want).  But I only had to wear the abaya (traditional robe and veil) out in public and rarely had to put on my veil and it really wasn't a huge deal.

It's supposed to go to the tops of your shoes, but I got the longest size available and it was a couple of inches too short. Eh, I guess I'm tall for Saudi Arabia.

The men totally wear traditional clothes as well.  The long white dress shirt looking things with the printed scarves held to their heads by black cords.  I don't think they're required to wear this outfit like women are required to wear the abaya, but I'm glad that they keep tradition.  It's so weird to be in a place where everyone is dressed almost exactly the same way.  But don't let that fool you into thinking women aren't playing the fashion game.  They do, but it's only for other ladies to see at "ladies only" places.  And after visiting a ladies club of sorts I can see a few advantages.  Being in a place with just women is kind of nice, I've never had many female friends and I can see how more sisterly relationships can be formed.  Family is very important in the culture, which is mostly a good thing.  And people are the same as they are everywhere else, they're people.

Saudi Arabia is an American ally, so there are a lot of people trying to attack them, but they run anti-terrorist PSA's and have blockades and checkpoints where necessary and the violence has been lessened drastically.  They also run anti-domestic violence PSA's which was somewhat disheartening (but we do those too).

There is (like in many places) a drastic difference between the wealthy and the poor.  Workers being brought in from other countries were just laying around outside the airport waiting to be picked up and taken to the jobs they were promised.

Everything is crazy expensive.  Two smoothies and a coffee came to about $60!  Oh, but they do make excellent smoothies.  Alcohol is prohibited so they rock the juices!

And after 5 days of Riyadh it was off to Milan.

I shot this about 2 minutes after take-off.  Riyadh really is just a city and then desert.  I think that road goes to Jeddah, which is the city closest to Mecca.

Flyin' in style.

My First Time: Toffee

This Recipe is from The Joy of Cooking


English Toffee
About 1.5 pounds


1 3/4 c. sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 teaspoons of vanilla or 1 tablespoon of dark rum
4 ounces of bittersweet, semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped or grated
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and finely chopped

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan.  Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.  Place a warmed candy thermometer in the pan ad cook, stirring frequently, to about 280 F, the soft-crack stage.  The syrup will be light colored and thick.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla (or rum) with a wooden spoon.
Pour the candy into a silicone or parchment lined 13x9 pan and let cool for 3 minutes.

Sprinkle the hot toffee with prepared chocolate.  Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then spread the chocolate evenly across the toffee with a small offset spatula.

Sprinkle the almonds (I used hazelnuts) on top of the layer of chocolate.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set the chocolate.  Break the toffee into pieces.  Store between layers of wax paper in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

So, my favorite toffee is the kind you get at See's.  It's amazing, it's sort of sandy and doesn't get sticky as you chew it.  This recipe is probably more on the sticky side, but I stored the leftovers with the fudge and after a day or two, some moisture left the fudge and made it less good, but it totally enhanced the toffee to be just like the stuff from See's.  I'll have to figure out how to replicate it without my happy accident, but I will try.

My First Time: Fudge

My recipe came from The Joy of Cooking

Fudge Cockaigne

About 1.25 pounds; 52 pieces

1 cup minus 1 tablespoon of milk

2 cups sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

Bring milk to a boil in a large saucepan.

Remove from heat, add sugar, salt and chocolate and stir until the sugar is dissolved:

Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes, washing down any sugar crystals that may have formed on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.  Reduce the heat, place a warmed candy thermometer in the pan, and cook, without stirring, to 234 F, the soft-ball stage.  

When nearing 234 F, there will be a fine overall bubbling with, simultaneously, a coarser pattern, as thought the fine bubbled areas were being pulled down for quilting into the coarser ones.  Remove from the heat without jostling or stirring.

Cool the fudge to 110 F. You may hasten the process by placing the pan in a large pan of cold water until the bottom of the pan has cooled.

Stir in butter and vanilla

Beat until it thickens and begins to lose its sheen.  At this point, the drip from the spoon, when you flip it over, holds its shape against the bottom of the spoon.  Quickly stir in nuts.

Pour the fudge into a buttered 8-inch square pan (I lined with parchment).  Cut into pieces before it hardens (I forgot to do this and shouldn't have, it just crumbled and broke when trying to cut it).

The finished product.

This isn't the super creamy fudge that you get at most places, but it's also not as dry and dark as the fudge that comes from the recipe off the back of the Hershey's cocoa tin.  It doesn't use corn syrup, because I try to avoid that ingredient, so that may explain the lack of super creaminess.  It was very good though, and every last bit was devoured.

(On a side note, I don't know about you, but the descriptions in The Joy of Cooking are really helpful, they just make sense to me)