Chocolate + Guinness + Whiskey + Salted Caramel
In cupcake form.
Need I say more?
Have a happy (and safe!) St. Paddy’s Day Weekend everyone!
Category Archives: cooking
green juice in the vitamix
I’m a big fan of green juice, but it’s so darn expensive. Little bottles like the ones you see above are over $10 each at a juice bar – craziness! And, since I have a tiny kitchen here in SF, there is no way I could fit a massive juicer on my countertop. There’d be no room for anything else! Luckily for me (and now, you) you can whip up a batch of green juice pretty quickly easily using your blender. I love love love my vitamix which makes everything incredibly smooth, but it should work with any blender, you may just need to blitz a few more times to get the right consistency.
Start by chopping up your fruit and veggies:
- 1 lemon
- 1 english cucumber
- 3-4 celery stalks
- 1-2 green apples (depending on how much sweetness you want to add)
Throw them into your blender with 3/4 cup of water and blitz away.
Now, add your greens:
- big handful fresh parsley
- 2 big handfuls fresh spinach
- 1 big handful fresh kale (you can omit this if it seems to hardcore for you)
Finish with a big pinch of cayenne pepper. This sounds a bit odd, I know, but it gives the juice a nice kick.
Your juice will be really thick at this point, so you’ll need to thin it out a bit. Grab two bowls and pour the juice into the smaller of the bowls. Take a cup or two of juice at a time and add a 1-2 cups of water and re-blitz in your blender until you’ve reached a consistency that seems more juice-like than smoothie. Pour this into your second bowl and keep going until you’re done with all your juice. Pour into whatever small containers you have on hand and you’ll be good to go.
UPDATE : If you still find the juice too thick for your liking, use a sieve and use the bottom of a spoon to ‘push’ all of the juice through from the veggie solids.
Voila! That’s it – green juice to get you through the next few days!
super healthy chicken lettuce wraps
I’ve made a version of these before, but these are my new and improved recipe, with step-by-step photograph instructions. Slightly fiddly, since they have quite a few ingredients and steps, but well worth your while, I pinky swear!
Hop on over to The Daily Muse to check them out!
oscar fever
I love the Oscars. As D says, it’s like my Superbowl.
BTW, can we stop for a second and talk about how great is Jennifer Lawrence? She just seems so normal. And poor thing, falling again going up to accept her award. Love her. Can’t wait for Catching Fire…. squeeeeee!
(Image courtesy of Tumblr, enthusiasticeffietrinket)
I also love throwing Oscars parties. Well, let’s be honest, I love any excuse to throw a party.
For this year’s Oscars I tried to be all clever and such with my food choices. Example A: Silver Linings Slutty Brownies. I originally was planning on making them from scratch, a la Gaby Dalkin, but then the weekend got away from me so I went with the original filthy recipe by The Londoner. Chocolate chip cookies + double stuffed oreos + and then an extra thick brownie layer. Major hit.
Also on the menu? Artichoke go F*#k Yourself Dip. I would normally not be so crude, but if you’ve seen Argo you’ll get where I was going with this one. Super easy – just buy your favorite artichoke dip, mix in greek yogurt, then serve alongside some deliciously crunchy kettle chips.
D & I picked up some of the most unbelievably creamy buratta from Cowgirl Creamery at the Ferry Building.
But of course it had to be Oscar themed. Le Mis Poor Man’s Bread & Cheese – yeah, I was pushing it but that’s okay. It was tasty. Just squeeze some lemon juice on top, drizzle with olive oil, and finish with a cracking of salt.
Last up, Frankenweenies ‘n Blankets – buy mini smoked sausages and wrap in puff pastry. I cut the puff pastry into long triangles (cut into three rectangles first) and wrap up starting with the straight end.
My friends each brought an appetizer – Jim & Michelle showed up with a huge square of pizza (in 2 boxes) from Golden Boy which was pretty awesome. 
I also had everyone bring a bottle of $20 red wine so we could do a little wine tasting contest whilst watching.
We had Oscar Ballots.
It was very serious business filling these out, I tell you.
We also had bingo.
With prizes of course.
(I didn’t win)
Best Oscar party yet.
Can’t wait for next year’s!
life lately
amazing sunrises in SF
foggy runs down by the bridge
birthday boiled eggs with soldiers
birthday weekend in Healdsburg, starting with a drink at Spoonbar
dinner at Scopa
the cutest dog ever at Hawley, Sampson
crazy cool Healdsburg sunset
we stayed at H2 and they had a super fab breakfast spread each morn
we went olive oil tasting at Dry Creek Olive Oil company
(great wine too!)
Chalk Hill was wonderful – we brought a picnic and did our tasting outside
there was a crab feed, and then another one 2 weeks later
hikes in Marin
dinner and drinks with friends
a work trip to NY with multiple stops at Eataly
6 seconds in Eataly ❤ vine.co/v/bJ9EV79xiJH
— Niki Lowry (@nikilowry) February 24, 2013
what, you’ve never been? let me show you!
I’m not even a big bagel fan, but you’ve gotta do it when in NY
snow!
cupcakes with my fellow Muses
I was in dire need of veggies after the many Eataly stops
How to eat soft-boiled eggs #eggs #breakfast vine.co/v/b1Zt6rZAHu1
— Niki Lowry (@nikilowry) February 24, 2013
more boiled eggs at Le Pain Quotidien
puppies!
oh yeah, and I joined Vine (follow me! @nikilowry)
#pizza #eataly vine.co/v/bJLh5zjK2b9
— Niki Lowry (@nikilowry) January 31, 2013
Eataly’s pizza rocks
I helped host a baby shower for my dear friend, Cassie
(and thought my homemade granola bar was pretty darn cute)
and then later that day threw a superbowl party
(complete w/ Delfina meatball subs and homemade chili queso)
spring has come early and the cherry blossoms are blooming in SF! 
we’ve been making paninis on our snazzy new panini maker
(thanks Susannah & Fred!)
back to our normal routine of heading to the Ferry B on Saturday morns
more runs down along Crissy Field and the GG bridge
I’ve been experimenting with chili recipes
(blog post coming soon)
we had a rosemantical Valentine’s date night at home
(filet mignon, roasted potatoes & asparagus)
Mum met Nigella Lawson, so jealous
(well, we both met her at a book signing in Dublin in ’05, but I’m still jealous)
D and I had a Berkeley date night – first stop was dinner at Zachary’s Pizza
followed by the Cal – SC game
(Go Bears – we won!)
In the spirit of the Oscar’s, I’m whipping up a batch of Gaby Dalkin‘s / The Londoner‘s Slutty Brownies
(Silver Linings Slutty Brownies, to be exact)
I like how Rosie from The Londoner describes these as “filthy”
Also in the Oscar spririt…. “Frankenweenies ‘n Blankets”
and “Artichoke go f*#k yourself” Dip”
(I crack myself up)
slutty brownies in the making #oreos #cookies #brownies #oscars #parties vine.co/v/bgMxJWVDAdP
— Niki Lowry (@nikilowry) February 24, 2013
I’ll leave you with this Vine #makethesebrowniesnow
