Cooking thru Bread and Wine - breakfast quinoa and homemade bread

Each month we rotate a monthly dinner party with two other couples from our church. Having a group of six is just perfect for dinner portions and to maintain an intimate setting. It is such a fun tradition! I was so excited for this month's dinner party because it was our turn to host! I kicked us off with a Fall cocktail - whiskey, bitters, cranberry juice, ginger ale and a sprinkle of cinnamon! The garnish of a cinnamon apple slice was so fun and festive - plus yummy!

Breakfast quinoa was such a unique recipe and very filling! I chopped the onions and sausage in the morning, which made the dinner very quick and easy. This is the type of meal that you don't want to cook until your guests arrive to ensure it is served hot! I scrambled the eggs and sprinkled the finished product heavily with goat cheese. It was so good! This would also be a great recipe to cook at the beginning of the week and then heat up each morning for breakfast.

And then there was the homemade bread. I have to say, I had no desire whatsoever to bake bread. But I had no choice since I am cooking through the book. What. A. Process. In order to bake bread, you have to start a day in advance. So, Drea and I went shopping for the ingredients to get the process started. I thought everything was going great, until the mixture just kept growing. And growing. And growing. And it grew...into 3 dishes total. Whoops. Guess the yeast ratio was a little off. I'm not one for the details... so I pushed right ahead with the 34,523,452,345 other steps. Just when I was ready to pop it in the oven, our apartment filled with black smoke. Again. I really, really hate our oven. A few hours later, after Richard saved the day... we had bread! Real, soft, tasty, warm...BREAD! Dear world, I did it. I made bread. And it was good. Really good!!!

So to anyone that has ever wanted to bake bread, but has been afraid... you got this! And add the breakfast quinoa to the mix and eat up. Yum!

Breakfast Quinoa 
Shauna Niequist - Bread and Wine

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil

1 large onion

4 links chicken apple sausage (Shauna recommends them from Trader Joe's)

2 cups quinoa

4 cups water

4 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Slice and soften onion in olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat. While that's cooking, slice the sausage and add it to the same pan.

Pour quinoa and water into small pot. Bring to boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer for 15 minutes. Fluff with fork and let cool 5 minutes.

Scoop quinoa into 4 bowls and then stir a scoop of onions and sausage slices into each one.

In the onion pan, fry the eggs to over easy, about 2 minutes over medium heat, and then slide one egg on top of the quinoa mixture in each bowl. (You can also choose to scramble the eggs if you want and sprinkle with goat cheese!)

Serves 4 (but really, serves 6 if you have appetizers and dessert)

Sullivan Street Bread

Shauna Niequist - Bread and Wine

Ingredients and instructions by Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan Street Bakery

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups water

Olive oil (about 1 tablespoon, for coating)

Extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (about 2 tablespoons, for dusting)

Equipment:

2 medium mixing bowls

6- to 8- quart pot with lid (Pyrex glass, Le Creuset cast iron, or ceramic)

Wooden spoon

Plastic wrap

 2 or 3 cotton dish towels, not terry cloth

Instructions:

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 12 hours at room temperature (approximately 65 to 72 degrees).

After 12 (or more) hours, remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface.

Next, shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (I prefer cornmeal); place the dough seamside down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1 to 2 hours at room temperature until more than doubled in size. (It doesn't always double but that's OK.)

Preheat oven to 450 to 500 degrees. Place the pot in the oven 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the put from the oven and place the dough in the pot seamside up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake 15 to 30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.

Cool on a wire rack. (If you can stand to wait that long.)

A Scarf Exchange

I know I've said this a ton, but I just love Fall. I am beyond happy it has arrived in New York City! The  chill in the air has brought calm days and perspective on enjoying the little moments in our life. I've been practicing the art of saying "yes" and "no." I totally understand that sounds like an oxymoron. And it is, I suppose. So let me explain...

I have been trying to say "yes" to things like... eating healthy, working out with friends, cooking new recipes, reading more, having quiet time on the couch, staying organized when I feel like stress is creeping in, taking bubble baths, enjoying a cup of tea, lighting a candle, sleeping a full eight hours, making new memories and navigating the weekends without a checklist or full calendar.

I have been trying to say "no" to things like... worrying about things I can't control, trying to accomplish too much in one day, eating out of boredom or stress, over-scheduling my social life, eating out too much, staying up too late, needing constant approval from others, and fear of the unknown.

Basically, being happy where we are in our lives and enjoying as much as possible. Focusing on what I love in life. Let's face it, we are never going to enjoy scrubbing the toilet... but you can always reward yourself with a glass of wine, right? ;) Two things I really enjoy about the Fall are being outdoors and scarves.

A few months ago, Richard started a monthly men's roundtable with some of our Apostles guys on the Upper East Side. He had been wanting to really dive deep into the Bible and discuss challenging and uncomfortable questions. I just love this! This month the guys grabbed pizza and pumpkin beer and journeyed through a difficult topic, openly and through ahead of time prep. Since the guys were occupied, I thought the ladies should do something special... A Scarf Exchange!!!

We had such a fun time chatting, sipping on lattes and wine at our favorite neighborhood park, Carl Schurz!

Scarf Exchange Rules
- Everyone brings a new or used scarf
- Numbers are drawn
- Two steals; once the scarf has touched a third set of hands, it is frozen
- First person has the opportunity to steal anything at the end

I also asked everyone to tell a joke when it was their turn! This was such a fun girls' night: extremely low cost, we enjoyed the Fall breeze outdoors and got to take home a new scarf (or two)! Great way to update your wardrobe and swap out a style you have worn several times.

Happy Fall!

Our European Adventure

Hello, Europe. We've been chatting about you for awhile now!

Richard and I are planners. We really love to plan, especially when it comes to travel...hence traveling 50 states together. On our honeymoon we were already talking about where we would celebrate our 5 year anniversary together. I know, I know... what is wrong with us?! Well, our European adventure came true and it was so much fun! 

10 days. 5 planes. 4 countries. 3 trains. 2 backpacks. ONE bottle of wine. Ha!

Our Route

We are fast travelers and check-list sort of people, so country hopping is right in line with our travel personalities (thank God they are the same!). We have learned that when something does not pique our interest, we should not do it just because a travel magazine said it was the thing to do! We also love to see landmarks and experience non-touristy areas to understand what it is like to live in that region. Which is why we ended up lost in a residential neighborhood in Rome. When in doubt, just eat gelato. 

Barcelona, Spain  

Rome, Italy 

Florence, Italy

Venice, Italy 

Paris, France

London, England

Nothing says Florence like a Fry Guy shirt. Am I right? 

Favorite... 

Food - Fettuccine Alfredo in Roma, Curry in London and Gelato in Spain and Italy 

Experience - Countryside wine tour in Tuscany 

Place - London 

Romantic Moment - Sipping wine watching the sunset go down under the Eiffel Tower 

Coolest Thing - Seeing the Pope speak 

Funny Moment - Realizing we were on a topless beach in Barcelona, after taking 13 pictures  

New Adventure - Experiencing Venice 

Packing for Europe

Whaaaaat? 2 backpacks? Yup, that's it. 2 backpacks. And I'm not talking about the fancy I'm-going-to-the-wildnerness large backpacks. Just your typical, I'm-headed-to-school type of backpack. Since we were hopping around so much, we didn't want to take very much...so we made an Excel spreadsheet and did a trial packing night one week before the trip. And you know what, we even had room to bring back a few souvenirs! It really showed me just how much I typically overpack for a trip! Richard did end up helping me carry my backpack a few times (that's why I married him!)... proof that I should never do a real backpack trip. ;)

Backpack #1

Backpack #2

Lodging  

Since we love experiencing "local life", we stayed at several Bed and Breakfasts along the way that were tucked deep into neighborhoods. We love this because you get to experience daily life, restaurants and culture! 

Language 

Richard cracks me up. He attempted to learn common phrases in Spanish, Italian and French before our journey...which quickly turned into starting every sentence with "I'm sorry, I don't speak...". If he did start speaking the language immediately, the other person would assume he was fluent and immediately begin a chatty conversation, to which Richard would give a confused and panicked look back. You'd think the fry guy shirt would have been a red flag... 

Public Transit

We loved it! Living in New York City has really taught us how to deal with crowds, lots of walking and navigating public transit. It really made traveling through Europe a breeze! It was also really fun to compare the public transit to NYC. Paris and London have fantastic subway systems and they were so much nicer and more reliable than ours! 

Food

The food was great! From gelato to cheeses and breads to pastries, we were never left hungry. Can you believe after all of the wonderful food we had at our fingertips, I was still craving enchiladas. You can take the girl out of Texas.... We also discovered our new love of macarons. And we created a new game while in Paris. One person yells "baguette" and then you have to immediately count how many people are walking with one in hand. You'd be amazed at how many you can count. 

As much as we loved Europe, we still love living in New York City even more! We wondered if we would return with a deep yearning to live overseas. For now, NYC is where we want to be. We just love it, but we will definitely return to Europe for more adventures in the coming years! 

I'll share each stop in more detail, but for now, here's some Eiffel Tower fun...

I'm sure we were really giving Americans a great reputation! 

We had to buy 100 cups to get 2 cups.
I suppose we could have just drank straight from the wine bottle...
 but nothing says classy like paper cups at the Eiffel, right?! :)

And we are getting this photo I took blown up on canvas so we can always remember our love of wine Florence, Italy.

Check out Richard's recap of our Europe trip here! 

Cooking through Bread and Wine - green well salad

I am most definitely on a Fall kick! I think living in the Northeast has shown me just how exciting it is to experience season changes, although I'd be okay skipping over the winter. I feel like I am relearning the art of the salad. Salads can be really tasty, filling and give you energy! I've always sought out salads for their kick of energy, but when I made them at home in the past I would end up hungry an hour or so later. Then I found the Green Well Salad.

Richard and I enjoyed this on a chilly Monday night. We needed a quick meal before having to complete a project for work and clean up the apartment prior to hosting Community Group the following night. I love that this salad requires not one, but two caramelized onions. Turning your stove on to prepare a salad just feels savory. The dried cherries mixed with pears, grapes and goat cheese make for a mix of flavor in every bite. But what I love the most, and what I think makes it very "Fall" is the maple vinaigrette. Brace yourself... you add maple syrup! 

Enjoy!

***

Green Well Salad 

Recipe from Shauna Niequist's Bread and Wine

Ingredients:

1 lb mixed greens

2 onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon butter

2 sliced pears

2 cups red grapes, halved

1 cup dried cherries, chopped if they’re the big kind

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 4 oz container crumbled goat cheese

Maple Vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon Dijon

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Begin by caramelizing the onions. Slice them thinly and cook them on medium-low heat in a tablespoon of butter until rich, dark brown, about 45 minutes.

For the vinaigrette:

Spoon Dijon into the bottom of a jelly jar. Add balsamic and maple syrup, salt and pepper. Shake well. Ad oil, and shake again. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Set aside.

For the salad:

Toss the greens with half the vinaigrette, then add the rest of the ingredients, the rest of the dressing, and toss again.

If you’d like to make it a more substantial main-course salad , you can add two cups or so of sliced, cooked chicken as well.

Serves 4-6

Cooking thru Bread and Wine - magical white bean soup

Fall has arrived and I am so excited for this season that I thought it was only fitting to whip up magical white bean soup. After all, it's a magical time of the year right? Cooler temps bring pumpkin lattes, fall decor, cozy sweaters and boots begin to make an appearance. Leaves change to golden reds, rich browns and soft yellows - a special perk of living in the Northeast.

The change in season also means a new beginning for community groups at church! For us, this season kicked off with a "multiplication party" since our Community Group got so big. A wonderful problem to have. To celebrate the group multiplying into two groups - we decided to celebrate the only way we know how. Food, drinks and laughter... with the added perk of a NYC rooftop, glimmering lights all around.

This was an extremely easy recipe to whip up and it is fantastic as a side dish, but can also stand on its own. Richard and I had leftovers for dinner the following night! The prosciutto on top is really just genius, yum.

Eat up friends and welcome the Fall!

***
Magical White Bean Soup

Shauna Niequist

2 shallots, sliced

1/2 lb carrots, sliced into thin coins on a diagonal

1 bulb fennel, sliced

4 celery ribs, sliced on a diagonal

6 cans white beans in liquid

1 tbsp Rosemary, rough chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a stockpot or Dutch oven, soften two sliced shallots in olive oil over medium heat.

Add carrots, fennel, and celery, and allow to soften 10-15 minutes.

Add beans in their liquid and chopped rosemary.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes at a gentle boil.

Taste, add salt and pepper, taste again—and keep in mind that you’ll get a good amount of salt from the toppings.

Cook for 20 more minutes, or longer if you have time. Off heat, mash with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon for a rustic chunky texture. If you’d like a smoother texture, run it through a food processor or use an immersion blender in the pot.

For the balsamic vinaigrette, mix a spoonful of Dijon, a few tablespoons of balsamic, a quarter cup or so of olive oil, some salt and pepper in a glass jar, then shake well. Adjust to taste–I usually like 2:1 oil to vinegar and dijon.

Serve with a small pitcher of vinaigrette, and bowls of prosciutto torn into ribbons, grated Parmesan, and chopped rosemary.

Celebrating 5 years of marriage

5 years ago we were running through checklists and soaking up as much wedding knowledge as possible. We were some of the firsts in our circle of friends to get married so it was new territory indeed. But we were filled with excitement, never a moment of hesitation. We couldn't wait to be married. Planning a wedding was stressful. Silly stress mixed with deep rooted stress that all quickly evaporated for a moment in time during those sweet days of our honeymoon. And then life began, quickly, together. We put our finances on track, made a million plans and started down this wonderfully hard journey of marriage where you learn compassion, compromise, endless love, frustration and constant companionship. I love being married to Richard. Every single day. 

Our journey over the past 5 years has included 7 changes in job roles, 4 apartments, 4 degrees, 3 churches, 3 apartment fires, 2 dogs, apartment ministry and moving from Texas to New York City. It has also included thousands of pictures, too many laughs, dinner parties, an insane amount of travel, late nights, early mornings, Saturday breakfasts, Thursday date nights, dancing with friends, hundreds of restaurants and so many photobooks to capture all these memories that I have lost count. 

We have learned and experienced quite a bit. 

We have learned how to develop new friendships while maintaining old friendships and growing with other couples. We have also learned how to deal with family hardships outside of our own and allow each other to be comforted for what the past has left and the future brings.

We've gone to bed mad, we've been irritated with each other for breathing too loudly and have not seen eye to eye on a few things. But our deep friendship, love and excitement about our life together has always pulled us easily through. And we always, always have date night once a week.

In 5 years we have traveled all 50 states, 7 countries and managed to keep our calendars full of new adventures with friends. We have never stopped dreaming of adventures - big or little.

We have followed through on a strict budget allowing for travel, student loan payoff, savings and retirement. And we hold each other accountable as we achieve our financial goals together. And we celebrate. 

We have seen each other experience deep pain and sadness, anger beyond belief and hit figurative walls when we no longer knew where to turn. And we got through, together.

Having two dogs has taught us what it means to put priorities in order - whether that means rearranging schedules, unanticipated costs, leaving work early or staying up all night together, worried, at the pet hospital.

And most importantly, we have learned to pray together and for each other. 

By allowing God's grace, love and compassion into our lives, we have been blessed with a strong marriage and a vision for our future together. Marriage will take you through all seasons of life, many unexpected - happy, sad, confused, frustrated, tired, adventurous, exciting - but the best part is that it is together. Life is a journey and I'm thankful for my husband helping me navigate that journey. I am beyond excited for what God has in store for the next 5 years. 

We celebrated with an amazing European adventure! I've highlighted our trip below and will share in more detail soon! :)