H-O-K-I-E-S hokiessss

5 days until the beginning of the season! LETS GO.. HOKIES!! 

the windy city

I'm off to Chicago on Sunday for my first property audit! Can't wait, I've never been. See you in a week bloggy friends!

down by the river

Going to a friends river house for the weekend!! Excited for tubing and jet skis. Hope you have fun plans!

Sew crazy

Check out these hand-embroidered newspaper stories. 

See more here! 

Cappuccino Love Bites

While I was making my Sugar Cookie Bars, Andrea was making these Cappuccino Love Bites, from none other than Annie's Eats.

Cappuccino Love Bites

Yield: about 36 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar, divided

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 egg

1 tbsp. coffee-flavored liqueur or milk (I used 1 tsp. espresso powder and 2 tsp. milk)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. instant coffee crystals

36 Hershey’s Hugs, wrappers removed

Directions:

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add one cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Beat until the mixture is combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg, coffee liqueur, and vanilla until combined. Beat in the flour gradually until well combined. If necessary, cover and refrigerate dough until it is easy to handle.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Combine the remaining ½ cup of sugar and the coffee crystals in a small bowl. Roll dough balls in the sugar mixture. Place each ball 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake about 10 minutes or until tops are cracked and sides are set (do not let edges brown). DO NOT bake for more than 10 minutes or the coffee crystals will burn. [We learned this the HARD way]. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. If desired, while the chocolate is still warm, swirl the kiss gently with the tip of a knife. Transfer cookies to wire racks and allow to cool completely.

Sugar Cookie Bars

So I attempted this recipe.... from Annies Eats, my fav!

Sugar Cookie BarsPrinter-Friendly Version
Yield: about 4 dozen bars

Ingredients:
For the cookie bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract (I also added almond extract)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Zest from 1 lemon
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.   Grease a 13 x 18″ rimmed baking sheet (mine was 12 x 17″).  Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Blend in the vanilla, seeds from the vanilla bean, and lemon zest.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir together with a fork to blend.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer.  Bake 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Mix in the milk.  Tint as desired with food coloring.  Spread over the cookie in the pan, cut into bars and serve.

BUT I decided to halve the recipe about halfway through (Because it makes 4 dozen). I had already mixed all of the butter, sugar and eggs. So I just decided to throw away half. Which obviously wasn't precise. So then when I baked the dish, it took about double the time and the inside was still pretty uncooked. It still tasted delicious, but was kind of a baking disaster. Then for some reason the icing came out runny and grainy when I added the green food coloring, so I just picked up a store-bought icing and put green food coloring. Altogether it was a pretty big baking disaster, but people still loved the bars!

shake it like a polaroid picture

This calendar is pretty sweet. 

So are these pictures. See more here. 

Monday

city love

So I found these awhile ago on Etsy. I bought the Virginia Tech Love print with orange and maroon umbrellas and had it framed for my friends Jessi and Chris as a wedding present. And the artist recently added DC prints! These are adorable.

Virginia Tech Love, Paris Love

DC Love II, DC Love III. No mention of DC Love I?

There are a bunch of other cities too: New York, Philly, Baltimore, Boston, Venice,London and more. Check them out here!

life is slippery

2 Meanings: 1) Flooded DC Area. 2) Stressed out boyf

Underwater

Wow- so apparently DC is underwater from a huge storm this morning! Tons of people lost power and trees are down everywhere, which caused horrendous traffic. And there is another storm heading our way this afternoon. Ah!

Rhode Island Ave

15th and Constitution, NW

Just another reason why I love living in VA, rather than DC.

Colbie Caillat

So I saw Colbie Caillat this week at Rams Head Live in Baltimore. It was in this really cute place called Power Plant Live that has a bunch of bars outside. Colbie was great!! I love her music. Her friend Justin Young opened for her, who was pretty good! And then he sang a couple songs with her. 

It was such a great show!! 

PopBar

Love Gelato as much as I do? Check out this place called Popbar! You can make your own popsicle using Gelato, Sherbert or Yogurt. 

Sadly there is only one in NY, but hopefully someone will open one in DC?! hint, hint, anyone?! Pleaseee?

hi cutie

Ah! Is this not the cutest picture you have ever seen?! Apparently I love beavers, I loved watching one sit there and eat the last time I went to the zoo! 

Strawberry Milk Chipsters

We had a BBQ this weekend with a couple friends so I decided to whip up these delicious cookies from Picky Palate! They are very strawberry/vanilla-y, would be great with a glass of milk! They were a hit!

Strawberry Milk Chipsters
2 sticks softened butter

1/2 Cup strawberry milk Powder Nestles
3/4 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1-2 drops red food coloring
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 oz bag White Chocolate Chips (I used a little bit less)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter, strawberry milk and brown sugar until well combined.  Place eggs into a bowl and whisk in 1-2 drops of food coloring.  Pour into mixer along with vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.   Place four, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix to combine then slowly add to wet ingredients along with white chips.  Mix on low until just combined.

2.  With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake for 9-11 minute or until edges just start to brown.  Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Authentic Chinese

So I realized that I am half Chinese, and go to 5-course dinners all the time with authentic chinese food, but have never documented it on my blog! My grandpa is well-known in the chinese community in DC, so we know the food well. Here are some dishes from a random lunch trip. We went to XO Taste in Falls Church, VA. 

Lobster in Cantonese Meat Sauce

Beef Chow Foon (my fav noodles)

Sizzling Scallops

I forgot to take a picture of our actual duck dish, but here they are hanging up. The food was delicious, I highly recommend you go if you are in the area!

weekend

Well it's the weekend people! Hope you have fun plans. I'm going to Sticky Rice and H Street Country Club for a double date with Madeleine! Remember this post about the last time we went? Love those places.

MIA

Sorry about being MIA bloggy friends. Things have been a little crazy, I started my new job this week! So I've been decorating my very first cube!! And getting acquainted with the team and computer and stuff. I'm very excited, I love it already! Especially hearing about all the cool places the team has been! For the rest of 2010, we have an Australia and Hawaii trip. And I should get some international trips in 2011! I'm going to Chicago Aug 22, and Knoxville, TN in Sept. And the team seems great. I'm very excited!