Monthly Archives: April 2010

Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

Why is the weather in New England so crappy? I’ve been in Massachusetts for almost two days already, and I have yet to experience anything but ominous-looking clouds, wind, and rain. The only upside to this crappy weather is that it gives me an excuse to cook creamy, rich, hot comfort food that would be way too heavy on a warm day. Dan and I weren’t feeling up to dealing with raw meat today, and he hates grocery shopping with me (I get too excited by all the food possibilities, apparently), so we stuck to the produce aisle for dinner. Spinach and mushrooms are a timeless combo, and great in cream-based sauces. “Don’t crowd the mushrooms!” OK, Julia. I didn’t crowd the mushrooms —...

Now that I’m free and in the clear school-wise, my friends have been sending me links to recipes they know I have plenty of time to try out. This unique ice cream cake was at the top of the “Tina, please make this for us!” list. The recipe called for cake mix. Usually, I try to stay away from boxed mixes. I just feel so much more accomplished when I make things from scratch, you know? But no one can a culinary superstar all the time, and there’s just no denying that sometimes boxed mixes just taste better. So, what’s so special about this cake? It’s made with ice cream! But not like a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, where there’s a layer of ice cream...

When my friend Jill graduated (early!) law school back in December, she treated herself to a trip to Thailand. In between relaxing and sightseeing, she squeezed in a few cooking lessons, and brought back tons of awesome new recipes to share. At our most recent girls’ night dinner, she showed me, Emily, and Leslie how to make pad thai. I was pretty excited for this dinner, not least because this was my first time hanging out with Jill in about 4 months. What really sweetened the pot, though, was the fact that Jill is currently house/dog-sitting for a girl that works at Williams-Sonoma and has access to a kitchen stocked with all kinds of sweet cooking equipment. Just looking at the huge selection of...

Today is an exciting day. Why, you ask? Well, for one thing, as of 12:30 p.m. today, I am officially done with final exams (and law school) forever. But more importantly, today is the day that I get to introduce my first ever guest blogger, Brittani. Brittani and I met in the Vaccine Injury Clinic this year, and as we became friends, I was pleased to discover that she likes cooking as much as I do. She kindly offered to send along some of her recipes for my blog, and her first contribution is Simple Artisanal Bread. Without further ado, here is Brittani’s post: ***************************************************************Hi Everyone! My name is Brittani, and I’m a 3L/soon-to-be alumna with Tina at GW. Unlike Tina, however I finished with...

Caramel Cookie Sandwiches with Chocolate Ganache Filling

Have you ever noticed that it’s times when you need to be the most focused and productive that you have the least motivation to get anything done? Finals are less than a week away, and I have yet to finish outlining for either of my tests. Am I locked away in some dark corner of the law school, frantically memorizing the finer points of wills and trusts? Nope! I am at home. Baking cookies. A couple weeks ago all the Tuesdays With Dorie folks were making Dulce de Leche Duos. They looked amazing, and I’ve been wanting to make them ever since. But, does my Safeway carry Dulce de Leche? No, of course not. They do, however, have Smucker’s Caramel Sundae Syrup! So I figured I’d...

Man, it’s been a long and stressful week. In the last 3 days I have done the following: attended the last few classes of my law school career, wrapped up all my cases for clinic, stayed awake for 38 hours straight to do work, and written an 8000 word paper in one day. I am tired. My body really isn’t as resilient as it used to be. But this week hasn’t been all bad. I got a job, for one thing. Far more universally exciting though — my friend Emily finally opened her Etsy shop! The picture above is an example of one of the adorable, hand-sewn Iphone/Ipod cases currently on sale on her website. As her artistic director and designer, I can tell...

“Hot cross buns, Hot cross buns,One ha’penny, Two ha’penny, Hot cross buns.” Today is Good Friday. You know what that means? Hot cross buns! According to Wikipedia, in historically Christian societies, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross in the middle standing as a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ. Pretty cool, huh? I haven’t worked with yeast since I made monkey bread during the Snowpocalypse. That time I had to dissolve the yeast in warm water, but this time the recipe called for lukewarm milk. I didn’t have any milk in fridge, but there was some buttermilk leftover from when I made Whoopie Pies, so I used that instead. Buttermilk isn’t all that different from milk, right? Buttermilk apparently...

Monthly Archives: April 2010

Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

Chocolate Coffee Ice Cream Cake

Pad Thai

Simple Artisanal Bread

Caramel Cookie Sandwiches with Chocolate Ganache Filling

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Hot Cross Buns

Blogs I Love

Cool Sites