Mia's Birthday Dinner

the beautiful birthday girl and me

Hey and good morning, everyone! I'm back, but still on a broken computer (I should have mine back tomorrow)...

I wanted to fill you guys in on what I did for Mia's birthday dinner, since it came out really nice and was quite a good time. I also wanted to share pictures with you, but, of course, I forgot my camera in NY and now my Mom has to mail it to me (thanks Mom!).

Here's the menu:

Pinot Grigio
Italian Bread
Spring Spinach Salad
Penne with Meatballs and Sauce
Very Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes
Fragolino (a strawberry champagne - well, Prosecco, actually - that Mia LOVES)

Mia's very into eating healthy, so I made sure to ask her what she would like to eat on her birthday. She chose meatballs and sauce, so that's what I made. I will share my meatball recipe with you, the only problem is I didn't measure any of the stuff out, so it's just my estimate of what you'd need. That being said, they were freaking delicious and pretty much some of the best meatballs I've ever had. Since turkey is on sale this week around the city (S&S and Shaw's for sure...probably WFs, too) I'm going to share how I made them.

I'm also going to share the Spring Spinach Salad recipe, which is my Mom's, and is probably one of the best salads you'll ever have in your life. Listen to me, so humble. "My meatballs are the best, my salad is the best". Jesus Christ..."Shut up", right? Nah...they're both the best. Trust me.

For dessert, we had Very Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes with a not Vegan buttercream icing (which was surprisingly good, also) sprinkled with purple sugar crystals. I made the actual cake egg and dairy free so that Mia's allergic son, Max, could eat one. To make the Icing vegan, you could find an all vegetable margarine...or you could probably find a recipe for one made with vegetable shortening and margarine. I'm going to explore this more fully so that Max can have an amazing birthday cake. I will keep you posted on my journey.

For decorations, we hung the "Happy Birthday" banner and got balloons. We tied 1 to each chair at the same height, and then tied 5 to Mia's chair. They were pink, lavender, and dark purple, and they matched the cupcakes. We used the china and the crystal and the linen. Mia had a pink napkin, and we all had green. She loved it, we loved it. Yay!

It was a great night. I'll post pics once I get my camera! For now, I'm going to post the recipes. Enjoy :).

Delectable Creme Puffs...I love the word "puffs"

I spent a semester in Belgium in 2007 along with a few others from my school, Northeastern University. My roomate, Teddy, and our 2 girlfriends Sandra and Tracey have all kept in pretty good touch since returning to the states. Every so often, we have a little get together to catch up and get drunk and eat fattening foods. We've had homemade pasta ravioli (i make pasta! watch out world!), a fondue party, holiday brunch, etc...

This is a bit of a digression about how important it is to get together with friends, if you just want the recipe and technique for $4 Creme Puffs, just skip this part:

Getting together with a few of your friends with inexpensive wine is a really healthy habit to get into, I say. It's good for you to get out (especially during these cold winter months) and socialize, and doing it at someone's home really makes it an affordable thing to do. Sometimes keeping in touch with friends is hard, and as everyday life takes over it falls by the wayside. It really does make a difference in your life, though, to keep up with friends and family and make sure those relationships stay strong. After all, that's what's important in life! (A little sappy, but it's seriously true). I try hard to maintain my friendships because when all is said and done, friends are the people that love you rich or poor, fat or thin, happy or sad...

So, now that that's over, I can tell you what we ate. Tracey decided to do fajitas. I always love to bring dessert, so I suggested I'd make something spanish-mexican-texmexish to go with the theme. I found out that cream puffs are kind of a Spanish thing. I don't even know how that's the case, but it may or may not be. Anyways, I decided to go for it. I had never made them before but after cross referencing The Joy of Cooking with allrecipes.com and a Barefoot Contessa recipe from foodnetwork.com...and find, an Alton Brown recipe, but I hate him so I don't even like to give him any credit (for the record I didn't use his recipe), I decided I could do this...and I could do it for UNDER $5. Here's how (from The Joy of Cooking):

Creme Puffs are made from a dough called "choux" which is French for "cabbages" - The Joy of Cooking says this is because the little dollops of paste expand in the oven to resemble tiny cabbage heads. I would say that's a stretch. It can be made sweet or savory, but that's for another day.

This dough is cooked on top of the stove and then shaped and baked. The paste must cool a bit before you add the eggs, so that you don't cook the eggs in the pastry. If the dough is too cold, however, your eggs will not incorporate properly. The finished paste should be shiny, smooth, and very thick but not stiff.

Choux Paste (creme puff dough - this makes between 15-30 puffs depending on the size)

1 c. all purpose flour ($.15)
1 c. water or milk (I use water because it's FREE) ($.37 if you use organic milk)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into small pieces (if you only have salted just omit the salt from recipe) ($.70)
1 T sugar ($.02)
1/2 t. salt (<$.01) 4 eggs at room temperature (if I don't have time to wait, I just put the eggs in a cup of warm water for a few minutes - like, while you're doing the dough) ($1.16 - organic)

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
   
2. Measure out the flour and put it aside.
3. Combine all other ingredients (water/milk, butter, sugar, salt) in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a full boil over medium heat.
   
4. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. The mixture won't look smooth, but just keep stirring fast. In a few minutes the paste will become dry and won't stick to your spooin or the pan, and when the spoon is pressed on it lightly it will leave an indentation. Do not overcook or overstir at this point because the puff won't puff in the oven.
   
5. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.
6. Add one egg at a time, beating rigorously or on low speed with a mixer (I used a kitchenaid stand mixer, but I know we don't all have them. Only use your handmixer if it has a REALLY low setting, or else this is better done by hand I think). Make sure the paste is really smooth each time you add an egg so that you can be sure each egg is fully incorporated. This is important.
7. Continue to beat with each egg until the dough is smooth and shiny. The proper consistency is when a small quantity of dough will stand erect if scooped up on the edge of a spoon.
8. You can now either put the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe out little mounds on a sheet (covered in parchment paper or a silicone baking mat - this is a must, they will stick) or spoon them out and pat down the spikes on top with wet fingertips (this is what I did).
9. Bake them at 400 for 10 minutes and then lower the oven to 350 and allow to bake for 25 more minutes or until they're golden brown and very firm to the touch. As soon as you take them out of the oven poke them with a small knife to let the steam out (if you don't the steam will come out and make them soggy).
10. Let them cool completely before adding the filling (whipped cream or pastry cream...recipe follows)

Total Price for Puffs $2.04...$2.41 with organic milk.

scrimpyTips:

- This dough can be refigerated up to 4 hours and does not need to be brought to room temperature before you bake it.
- You can fill these with whipped cream, pastry cream, ice cream, or even cool ship in a pinch...I'm posting whipped cream and pastry cream recipes in my next post...just have to get my little peanut down for a nap!

scrimpValentine

My li'l special Valentine

So sorry to have abandoned my ship (blog), but Valentine's day had me running around like it was Christmas or Thanksgiving! I love making homemade old-school valentines, but this is my first time attempting this with a baby. It was really hard because I felt like he was in his exersaucer or playing alone all day. These babies take like, an hour to make, and let me tell you...they make a huge mess. There was glue stick and tissue paper EVERYWHERE. Then I had to run to the post office so that it would get to her in time. Then I had to make my dad's and my mom's and Mike's. Etc, etc, etc.

scrimpyThings I've been doing lately:

• I made Mike a batch of chocolate truffles, and I made my own box, so it was like a homemade box of chocolates.
• Stayed in for Valentine's day and instead made my own chocolate desserts and dinner.
• Made a double loaf of banana bread muffins and froze most of them to send with Mike for lunch.
• Made a batch of 15 whole wheat rolls and froze for Mike's lunch.
• Made a batch of Haymarket Pita chips for snacks for the week.
• Made a batch of baby wipes for Dylan's booty.
• Made a batch of oatmeal for the week.

I also walked all the way to Trader Joe's this week to avoid paying $3.40 for the train. I feel like the T is so expensive now, so I only take it when I really need it. Trader Joe's has a lift that you can use by yourself (I always kind of put it off because I thought it would be a whole "to do", but it's really easy! So, if you need to take your stroller to TJs in Back Bay, go for it!).

I think I will tell you guys how I put together my antipasto platter for Valentine's dinner, along with my recipe for fresh Italian bread. I will also share with you my truffle recipe (easy as anything you've ever done in your life...just a little messy and time consuming, like most things scrimpy!). I'll also share with you how I set the table for our Valentine's dinner, and some of the other fun and scrimpy things we did for the holiday! Oooh, and I also want to tell you what I did with all the leftovers from my antipasto platter.

It is fun to do the whole "flowers, dinner, jewelry, chocolate, gifts..." thing for Valentine's day, but it is more fun and creative (and budget friendly) to make your own dinners and gifts. Looking back, I would say that some of the best gifts and memories I have are from these past few years that we've been scrimping. Having a child makes it a bit trickier to get out for the special day, so it's especially fun to have a homemade Valentine's night when you have a little one! No paying for a sitter, getting showered, or spending money required!

I love planning special things. With our anniversary being January 17th, and Mike's birthday being January 25th, I had my hands full. When January 26th rolled around, I got right on to planning Valentine's day! Luckily, everything I did can be done for any special day, be it one in February or in July :).

Showing appreciation to a great friend...PART 1

Things have been quite tight in my household, because my boyfriend sells mutual funds (which are basically stocks) and is paying off a steep credit card bill. Unfortunately, nobody wants to buy stocks right now (even though they should). So that means we are pretty NOT rich right now. Anyways, I needed a haircut so badly. So badly, in fact, that the last time I was home (for Christmas), my dad actually cut my hair in the kitchen. Needless to say, we don't have any money for me to get a nice haircut, so my friend Melissa offered to take me to get a hair cut. This was one of the kindest things a friend has ever done for me! It was so nice to know that you have a friend who is so generous, and wants the best for you. It was honestly one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.

Since I had Dylan in July, I really haven't had too much time or energy to really put into my appearance, and I feel like crap. The hair cut did just the trick (although I still feel gross in so many other ways...hey Melissa, feel like taking me for a manicure, liposuction, and a laser facial?), and made me feel MUCH better. Who knew a hair cut could leave you feeling so refreshed? The point is, she was so sweet to think of me, and it made me feel very special so I cooked her a thank you brunch. Oh, wait! This is the best part. After she took me for the best haircut I've ever gotten, she:

• invited me over to her apartment for dinner
• got me drunk
• cooked me dinner
• got me a little more drunk
• gave me $20 for a cab home
• (oh and she babysat for free until pretty late on December 11th without even accepting cab money from me)

So, since she wouldn't accept that I was taking the T, I told her I was making her brunch with the $20. So I did. And I'd like to share it with all of you!

It doesn't have to cost a ton of money to throw a tasteful and festive little affair. Here is the menu for 3:

Orange wedges (2 navel oranges from Haymarket - $.50)
Buttermilk biscuits ($.92) with Strawberry jam ($.25)
Organic scrambled eggs ($2.43)
Organic-banana bread muffins ($2.23 - that's $.19/each)
Organic Coffee (Organic 365 Pacific Rim Blend from WF) ($.99)
Organic milk for coffee ($.37)
Sugar for coffee ($.08 - 4 T.)
Ice water ($.OO)
100% Organic Bananaberry Blasts (soy smoothies) ($2.20)

Grand Total for Brunch for 3 = $9.97
(That's $3.32 per person...with leftover muffins and biscuits for favors!)