The Domestic Empress

in totally delicious detail

The Announcement

April 20th, 2011

The Empress

No, this is not a joke.

I’ve done some serious soul-searching recently. Along with a number of difficult decisions, one of them has been that I will no longer be reigning as your Domestic Empress.

Obviously I am still going to be blogging – I wouldn’t dream of giving that up, but maintaining two blogs is way too much of a challenge. If you’d like to follow my further adventures in food, gardening, and the like please come on over to KateSullivanBlog.com. I promise it’s not all talk about my books. Right now I’m doing a 30 day series of journal-type questions, which I’m finding kind of fun. I also plan to talk about the gardening I’m doing this year, and of course there’s also the cake that tried to kill me (it was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak).

It’s a really emotional decision to “abandon” the Domestic Empress. I learned a lot and grew tons as a blogger during my reign. But the time has come for me to move on. Just know that it’s with an incredibly heavy heart that I abdicate my throne.

Thank you all for being fans. I appreciate your love and support more than I can ever say.

Just remember that I may be moving out of the palace, but I’m still living in the neighborhood. So come on over and get comfy, hmm?

Rainbows. Hold the Unicorns.

March 1st, 2011

The Empress

I know you’ve seen it on other blogs, but how many of you are really satisfied to just watch everyone else make this cake?

Probably about the same number of people at my housewarming party who believed me when I told them it was a white cake with white icing.

If you know me, you know there’s no way I’d miss an opportunity to do something fabulous. White cake can definitely be fabulous – but it’s way more fun if you add some color. And why settle for one? That moment when someone slices into the cake becomes an event in and of itself.

Let’s not forget the awesome pictures you can take while you build the cake!

In the end, it was really fun to watch people’s expressions as we cut into the cake. If you’ve been dying to make this cake, you won’t be disappointed.

I used this cake recipe and a double batch of this frosting recipe – the only problem was that we were out of vanilla so the frosting definitely tasted like shortening which was not the desired outcome! Make sure you don’t skimp on the vanilla, whatever you do. The cake itself, however, came out wonderfully rich and (dare I say it?) moist.

I think if I ever make this cake again I’ll be doing it with red (and green, and blue…) velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. What’s your favorite color of cake?

Can you handle it Raw?

February 23rd, 2011

The Empress

This weekend I had the opportunity to try raw milk for the first time. I went with a few friends out to a farm where you can board your cow(s).

(Raw milk, if you don’t know, is unpasteurized milk. It’s something that has people harshly divided. I encourage you to do some serious research before you form an opinion either way. And by serious I mean something along the lines of doctoral dissertation-worthy work – not, “I googled.”)

So we arrived on the farm and met some gorgeous animals. We’re talking all pesticide-free grass-fed cows who are treated like pets – not products. The cows are not given antibiotics (unless it’s a life-threatening situation) or hormones. They were calm, friendly, and cute with each other (forgive me, I’m not a farm girl – seeing cows nuzzling each other is a foreign concept).

We were able to watch as the cows put themselves into a neat row for milking. The farmer explained the process she uses to milk the cows as she was going through it, and we got to see every step of the process.

And of course, we got to taste the milk (somewhere my mother just had a stroke). Cold, fresh from the cow, not damaged by heat. It was delicious.

I expected that it would be completely new and different – but I was wrong. This milk tasted just like the organic whole milk I’ve had in the past (my mother – still stroking out over that whole fat milk idea). Obviously taste is not a measure of quality – it can’t measure the amount of bacteria or nutrients – but I was surprised because I expected that the milk would be very different from what I am used to.

I know there are a number of things that can impact the taste of milk – food being one of them. Right now the cows are eating silage (corn and hay) but the rest of the year they’ll be eating grass so that will change the way the milk tastes and looks. We were told the milk would be “golden” colored in the summer instead of the creamy white color it is right now.

As far as cleanliness goes, it’s difficult to say. The farm looked clean – for a farm. They’re not scrubbing down the milking barn between milkings, and they’re not washing the mud (which let’s be honest, must be part manure) off the cows before they milk them. It’s not a “sterile” process by any means – the milking apparatus isn’t cleaned between cows, just between milkings, but the cow’s teats are dipped in iodine before and after milking (the same pot of iodine was used for all the cows). I work in healthcare so I’m a bit sensitive to infection control procedures and this made me a little leery – but can you imagine the things that happen when the farmer knows the milk will be pasteurized before it gets to customers?

Ultimately the raw vs. pasteurized debate is an interesting one, and I sure don’t have the answer. My visit to the farm didn’t change my opinion on raw milk but it gave me a lot to think about.

Have you ever had an experience that changed the way you think about food?

Red Velvet Cheesecake

February 22nd, 2011

The Empress

Of the many things my mother keeps in her arsenal, her stockpile of cookbooks is by far the most impressive I have ever seen (In the hostile communities of Northern Virginia, we are united against a common enemy: the impromptu potluck. This is to say nothing of our daily battle known as dinner wherein no one has any opinions except that we must have it and it should not be boring). Normally I visit the internet for my recipes, but if I am at home I will gladly turn to her bookshelves.

The Southern Living collection will soon need its own wing in my mother’s home. Their Red Velvet Cheesecake was the most obvious choice for our Christmas dinner dessert. Cheesecake, I think, is seasonless – which is why I feel like I can blog about it even though Christmas is months behind us (nothing to do with me being lazy…not even a little).

You know that Red Velvet Cake is my signature cake. It is my go to recipe when everything else has gone wrong. I have strong opinions about my Red Velvets and high expectations.

Fortunately, this cheesecake was everything I wanted. It had that Red Velvet taste (I can’t think of the best words to describe that taste. It’s kind of a tangy taste, a little zing! to your tongue) but with that creamy cheesecake to balance it out. Naturally the whole thing is finished with a cream cheese frosting.

As I said before, I made this for Christmas but since there aren’t any seasonal items involved, I really think this dessert is seasonless. There is never a wrong time for red velvet.

What’s your favorite kind of cheesecake? Do you have a go-to recipe that makes everything right in your world?

Tomato Soup Cupcakes

February 17th, 2011

The Empress

For my birthday I got this amazing baking bookOne of the things we noticed immediately was a certain recipe just lurking in there amongst the others: Tomato Soup Cupcakes.

You just had to know I’d take that as a challenge. Especially when I saw this at the bottom of the page:

Oh, yes, it was on. I decided to make half and half – some the regular way and some the “adventurous” way – and see which version we liked best. After all, my housewarming party was the perfect venue for a taste test, right?

There were skeptics.

But I pressed on.

See how the batter is kind of plain looking that last picture? It stayed that way. I half expected that the cupcakes would be, well, tomato soup colored. I was wrong.

Which was probably for the best because I think it would have been hard to get people to eat them if they actually looked like tomato soup. Maybe not. I split up the options on two plates and explained to any interested parties what the difference was.

And there was a subtle difference between the two. The cinammon and nutmeg version tasted like pumpkin bread – which I love, so I really enjoyed that.

The salt and pepper version was just plain. I expected fire and savory and explosions! There were no explosions. It was just very plain. Every now and then you’d get a little piece of pepper and it was okay, but not nearly as exciting as the “adventurous” advertising claimed.

All in all, these cupcakes were a mild success. The marscapone was the right amount of sweet to balance the not super sweet cake. The cake itself was moist but really sturdy. People ate them, we liked them, but I don’t think I would make them again. I really wanted to be blown away by how spectacular they were and it just didn’t happen.

Are you a fan of “spice cake”? Do you think you’d be brave enough to try tomato soup cupcakes if you were confronted by one?

On Rough Days

February 4th, 2011

The Empress

Some days you just need a pick me up.

I love stemware. I love the fussiness, the delicacy, and how impractical it is.

I also think it’s a sham that such frivolous things be reserved for alcoholic beverages. I don’t care what’s in the glass. I just feel better when I drink out of a fancy glass.

And I cannot recommend the Pom juice and dark chocolate combination enough. It’s a little taste of magic.

The Daily Debate

February 3rd, 2011

The Empress

I think we are all familiar with that horrible moment during the day when you stand in front of the refrigerator and your mind goes completely blank. Maybe it only happens to you once a week, maybe once a day, or maybe – if you’re really unlucky – it happens at every meal.

There’s gotta be a name for this phenomenon. But the goal is always the same: “What am I going to eat for (insert name of meal here)?”

There are a few nights of the year when I always know what I’ll be eating. Christmas Eve is one of them. We always have enchiladas for Christmas Eve dinner. And they’re always more delicious than on any other night of the year.

But here’s how it usually works with me: I’m in the middle of something when I realize I’m hungry. So I get up, go to the fridge, e xamine the contents, and draw a blank. Typically I will close the fridge, check the cabinets and also come up empty minded. So I go back to whatever I was doing for a few minutes and when my hunger (shockingly) doesn’t subside I repeat the whole process. Sometimes in a different order -cabinets first, then fridge – but almost always with the same results : my mind is a total blank.

I’ll be clear – I cannot think of a time when I have had literally nothing to eat. But there are times when I see the pieces of the puzzle in front of me and my mind just will not connect the dots. Which is why I end up repeating the cabinet check. Just in case something delicious appears in front of me that I didn’t notice the first 25 times I looked. Cause that happens.

(Should I remind you of the definition of insanity? No? Okay.)

Anyway, if you didn’t already know I am in the thick of race-training season. I can’t say the midst because we haven’t even reached the first race yet but I’m definitely “feeling” it. Because I know that my athletic performance is improved by what I eat, I am on a ”diet” until further notice. Because I can’t decide if my last race is in September or November. But that’s not the point.

My point is that given my desire to eat food that will help me feel better and run better and the fact that I’m oh-so guilty of the mind melt when it comes to figuring out what to eat at 90% of my meals I knew I would need to boost the odds of being successful when it came to making good food choices.

So I did what I do best – plan. I printed out a blank calendar and got to work.

Now, fellow royals, you are looking at a girl who has every meal and snack planned for the next two months.

Here’s why this works:

I plan generically. A lot of lunches just say “salad.” Many dinners say “chicken.” I know at least one says “Ground beef.” Obviously I am not going to eat plain ground beef for dinner! I’m training for a race, not a swimsuit competition. But by planning the basic outline of the meal I have the freedom to make adjustments as my mood dictates. And by changing up the veggies or way I cook something I can add in the variation that will keep me from going crazy.

I have specific goals. My focus is on getting enough protein to support my muscles, a handful of “good” carbs to give me the right kind of energy, and just enough fat as is necessary to function. One day a week I give myself permission to indulge in whatever I want – but that means I have to be good the other 6 days of the week. Having these goals in place makes it very easy to plan. I also have a training schedule set up so when I was planning meals I knew when I would want more carbs and when I’d be better sticking to a small snack.

Balance is everything: I’m realistic. Real life is messy and sometimes things come up. If you’re like me, things come up a lot. The biggest reason this plan works is that I’m willing to be flexible. But I’m also willing to fight to stick to my plan as much as possible. Spontaneous dinner outing? Great. I’ll just order whatever I was going to make at home. That’s how I can plan for a month or two at a time and not just fall off the wagon when life gets in the way.

The other advantage this plan provides is that I no longer have to wander aimlessly through the grocery store. I know ahead of time what I need for the week but still have the freedom to plan around sales.

So tell me. What would you call that moment when you start looking for food and you can’t for the life of you figure out what to eat?

Soupsational

January 31st, 2011

The Empress

Couldn’t help myself. I know that title is totally cringe-inducing. Oh well.

You know I love me some soup – and these nights are begging to be warmed up. It only seems natural to share some of my lessons learned.

I haven’t met a soul who doesn’t enjoy a good baked potato soup. Sour cream, cheddar cheese, and the winner of all additions – bacon. Yum! But one thing I learned this month was that mushroom broth does not make for a good potato soup base. If you’ll note the slightly green tinge my soup has in the picture above…well…yeah. It tasted pretty good, but definitely lacked the presentation points.

If you’re tired of candied sweet potatoes, try a cream of sweet potato soup:

I seasoned mine with sage and rosemary (and plenty of pepper) to create a savory soup that really took me by surprise. I loved it – but would not recommend garnishing with sour cream. There was plenty of cream in the soup without it. I really loved the cheddar and monterey jack cheeses in this – and a dash of cayenne gave a nice kick.

Finally, and I don’t know why I don’t have any pictures of this, but I made my classic chicken and rice soup – the one that’s so hard to do wrong? Well, I figured out the wrong way to do it: skipping the bouillon. We didn’t have any and I was in a rush so…it was the most boring soup I’ve ever made. Obviously I made it work with other seasonings, but that was definitely an eye opener.

I think I could eat soup year round. What are your favorite kinds of soups?

In Pictures: This Christmas

January 30th, 2011

The Empress

New Year’s Eve

January 29th, 2011

The Empress

I know we’re almost into February by now, but I thought it was probably time to share my awesome New Year’s Eve story. I think we can safely summarize the night with one word: Food.

I am legitimately afraid I will forget everything we ate that night. This would probably be for the best because we ate a LOT of food. And it just kept getting more ridiculous – but it was all so good!

You might say it all began when Mama Pirates bought every. single. last. bit. of chorizo they had at the store. All of it. Sometimes you just need paella.

It might have escalated when JM requested there be enough burritos to have leftovers. Which, if you’re not familiar with the eating habits of adolescent boys, requires an inordinate amount of burritos.

We might have gone to a whole other level when Mr. and Mrs. B-dub and I felt like making our own sushi.

And we all might have been really excited about PN’s new deep fryer. And there might have been some french fries thrown into the frey – though I did restrain myself from making any hush puppies even though we all wanted them.

It was, in a word, epic.

Doesn’t the Pirate kitchen just make you want to cry a little? I love it.

Did you think that was all the cheese we were putting in the burritos? As if.

Would you believe this is not all of the burritos?

Now let me really blow your mind: They barely lasted past the next day. Not. even. kidding.

Ever wondered how they make tomago? We did some experimenting to see if we could get it right.

Where there’s tomago you know there’s sushi!

I share this blurry picture only to prove we actually did it. I was too excited to eat it to take more than one shot and this one just happened to suck. Oh well – it was too yummy to be worried about taking pictures.