winkthinks » Food & Drinks

Breakfast Made and Ready

Whitney — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:47:22 +0000

Every Thursday my boyfriend works from home, and every Thursday I wake up jealous and bitter. I love working from home so it’s hard for me to wake up and rush to get ready while watching him leisurely lounge, watch the news, eat his breakfast. I’m sure he knows this, and every once in a while he’ll do something sweet for me on a Thursday morning. A simple gesture that makes a morning not quite as unpleasant as others.

Like this one time, when I got out of the shower, stressed and still sleepy and found a bowl of yogurt, diced bananas and a hot cup of hazelnut coffee. Made and ready for me.

Breakfast for Dinner

Whitney — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:29:46 +0000

After traveling to the west coast for a week, returning to Boston, and immediately heading to Maine for a week, you shouldn’t be surprised that my refrigerator is running on empty. We made a quick trip to the marketing across the street, but since it’s small and local and therefore expensive, we opted for a few essentials to hold us over until we can make a big time trip to the grocery store. We grabbed the basics, like bread, fruit, milk but skipped over, oh I don’t know, dinner items! So tonight I’m doing the whole breakfast for dinner thing.

Waffles (yes, I’m ashamed to have these in our freezer), diced bananas, syrup.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Whitney — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:45:40 +0000

Last month I shared photo of the pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes that I baked with my mum over Halloween weekend. The cupcakes didn’t last long in this house, but I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about them. Every day at lunch I think shit, why didn’t I bake those damn cupcakes again? I literally crave them. So I’m adding it to my to-do list this weekend. I must bake more!

I followed the recipe from Martha Stewart and found it super easy, super quick. I cut the recipe in half because I didn’t want to find myself eating all 18 cupcakes (big mistake, should have made them all) and the only thing I’d note if you plan to bake these is that the baking time might be more than Martha says. I left mine in the oven for 5 extra minutes, until the insides weren’t gooey.

Recipe according to Martha Stewart:

Ingredients
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Who says you can’t eat pumpkin after Halloween?

Starbucks K-Cups Now In Stores

Whitney — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:00:53 +0000

Remember how last week my entire mood was brightened by the reemergence of Starbuck’s red cups? Well dear Starbucks, you’ve outdone yourself. One week, it’s the red cups back in action, this week, they’ve announced that Starbucks K-Cups have arrived.

Life just got freaking awesome. What’s your favorite brand of K-Cups?

Tacos, Flowers & Friends

Whitney — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:45:04 +0000

Remember that new dining room that we just started setting up? Well good timing I suppose, because we recently had the chance to put it to use with a few close friends. I get an email at work that one of the boyfriend’s best friends is planning to visit in Boston for the night. Completely random, totally unexpected, and entirely entertaining.

We both rushed home from work, made a quick run to the grocery store, picked up a few bottles of wine, and grabbed a bouquet of fresh flowers. Nothing says welcome to Boston and make yourself at home in our new apartment like a fun, home-made meal and flowers on the table. Am I right, or am I right? We went with one of our favorite quick and easy meals. Soft shell tacos. It’s a great dish for our house, because given the whole make-you-own-taco deal, the boyfriend can easily enjoy chicken or beef, and I can use veggieburger meat.

The tacos were delicious (as always), the wine turned our cheeks pink, and the two vases filled with bright, white flowers made me feel… fantastic. A bundle of flowers from the market seriously makes any day or night better.