A jaunt around New England....

Lez be honest...I'm moving to New England. I freaking love that place. Its hipster, cold, beautiful, and the food is incredible.

Our jaunt began in Maine, where I have been going on vacation for as long as I can remember. Maine comes with the obvious options... lobster rolls, blueberries, and popovers, which we had in excess...

Jason and I opted out of the plane ride to drive 12 and a half hours so we had could stop on the way back at some of his favorite places. We began with clam chowder at Coat of Arms in Portsmouth. *Jason likes it because it has bacon in it. This chowder was one of his favorite things while he was living in New Hampshire*























We then walked straight to the Friendly Toast *after a stop at a boutique for me* where Jason had his first poached egg (which he loved) and the amazing creation that is Anadama bread, a New England staple made with molasses and corn meal.

 BUT WAIT...it doesn't stop there!

About 3 and a half hours later we stopped in Manchester, CT where Jason grew up and I got to experience Shady Glen...and this:

Yes, that is cheese.

Needless to say, by the time we left Shady Glen I was in a little bit of pain and had a very sleepy, full ride home to Maryland.

It was a lovely time, as usual. And I am moving to Portsmouth..BYEEEEEE





OH! And Jason bought about 50 dollars worth of Cape Cod Chips. WHAT! Yes. 

Much love!! --Julia

Tortilla Cafe

So I'm sitting here in my bed...in my infamous Liza Minnelli shirt watching Julie & Julia trying to avoid the impending doom that is my graduation from college in 15 days by reminiscing about the insane meal I had the other day. SO to avoid any further panic attacks or tears, here is my adventure in El Salvadorian/Mexican cuisine!

Jason and I woke up Sunday morning expecting nothing more than a lazy Sunday full of crime TV, cold pizza and Yuengling ALAS he had some tricks up his sleeve. One of the 24983248934839 things I love about him is is love for trying new food, so he looked up a few Diners Drive ins and Dives places  and after much careful decision making I chose the Tortilla Cafe in South East DC.

Tortilla Cafe came from the Canales Deli which was established in 1983 by Juan and Catalina Canales. It is a blend of El Salvadorian and Mexican cuisine, known for its pupusas and fried plantains.

I got the pupusa platter which comes with 2 sides, I picked yucca and a salad. It also came with what I can only describe as a cabbage based slaw with a spicy vinegary sauce on top.

Pupusas are pretty much quesadillas made with corn tortillas, mine were filled with pork and cheese and were amazing. They tasted like a corn cake filled with cheese, I must say the pork was lacking. 

Yucca is yucca is yucca is amazing. I could eat it all day. NOTE: Next time get 2 sides of yucca.

Jason got the Roasted Chicken platter with beans, yucca on the side and jalapeño sauce 

*better than Taco Bell's he says* 

I didn't try the chicken but he said it was juicy and beautiful, the jalapeño sauce was to die for and the beans were a win. He did say that he should've gotten the half chicken because the quarter just wasn't enough. 

We also got beef empanadas which came with a fresh salsa. 

After our trip to Puerto Rico we are super picky about our empanadas, the beef inside was great, it was not ground beef it was pulled/chopped beef...yum. I had a problem with the crust because it was flaky like a pie and I was not a fan of the sweet/savory mix. The salsa was amazing, it was fresh and well seasoned, I could have eaten it by the spoonful. It would have gone well with the pupusas! 

The last winner of the adventure was a drink called horchata 

It is a type of chai tea (Jason LOVES chai) served cold made with rice and cinnamon. It was better than anything you could ever get at Starbucks *and half the price* 

Probably the best part of the whole experience is that this insane amount of food was only about 20 dollars for the both of us, which is crazy. I highly recommend Tortilla Cafe and hope you enjoy!! 

Much love!!-- Julia 

Puerto Rico!

I went to Puerto Rico!!!!!!!

So much beach!

So much boyfriend!!!

(Old San Juan) 

So much drinking! 

(Free drinks after our free tour of the Bacardi factory!) 

So much FOOD! (Empanadas, Mofongo and SO much more!!!) 

Cat chairs..... 

And soooooooo much love : ) 

Aaaand then Jason got food poisoning.....funny story. Why is it that the one night we eat overpriced Italian food in the hotel he gets sick?

Oh well...it was the most lovely time.

NEVER FLY SPIRIT AIR!

Much Love!!! ---Julia

Pumpkin Spice Cuppycakes

These are almost too good......

Pumpkin Spice Lattes are probably my favorite thing about the fall (the ones from Panera NOT Starbucks or Sheetz)

What will you need???

For the cupcakes (about 2 dozen) 

-2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

-2 tsp. baking soda

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1 tsp. ground cinnamon

-1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

-1/8 tsp. ground cloves

-1 tsp. salt

-1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

-1 cup sugar

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 cup canola or vegetable oil

-4 large eggs

For the frosting: 

-8 oz. of cream cheese (softened) 

-2 sticks of butter (softened) 

-4 cup powdered sugar 

The cupcake recipe is from Miss Annie the frosting is from Food Network

Preheat the oven for 350 

 Put flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a bowl and mix that ish...set aside. 

In an electric mixer combine the pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after every egg and then mix in the dry ingredients gradually. 

Set your cuppycake cups in your tray and fill each 3/4 of the way with batter. Cook for 18-20 minutes on 350 until you can poke them with a toothpick and have it emerge cleanly. 

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes before you attempt icing. 

Frosting: 

In an electric mixer cream together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract, add the sugar one cup at a time until blended. 

Top with cinnamon and a caramel drizzle!

A special thanks to my love Tyler for helping out and Kelly Clarkson's new CD for providing a soundtrack to my day of baking!!! 

Much love!!--Julia 

Loaded Cauliflower Soup!

This soup is ridic. Like legitz ridic. I call it loaded soup because it tastes like a loaded baked potato soup but with cauliflower ( I'm not a fan of potatoes)

Okay..picture yourself bundled up in your favorite sweatpants/sweatshirt/snuggie sitting in front of a fire with your favorite cuddle buddy with a bowl of soup...THIS is the soup you're picturing yourself with.

What do you need?

-1 head of cauliflower
-1 TBS butter
-2 C low sodium chicken stock
-6 slices of bacon
-Chives
-2 TSP of paprika
-1 medium onion
-2 cloves of garlic
-1 C parmesan cheese

Chop up your onion and garlic, doesn't matter how big or small because its all gonna get pulverized anyway. Sautee in pan with butter until onions are clear but NOT caramelized (probably the ONLY time I will ever tell you not to caramelize onions) Put them aside.

Cut the cauliflower into florets and boil in water for 15 minutes or until soft (like falling apart soft). Drain and put in blender with onion/garlic mixture, chicken stock, paprika, salt and pepper to taste, and grated parmesean cheese.

Blend that shiz...the best way I found was to use the "blend" option and the "liquefy" so you get a good consistency. It should still be thick like a chowder. Keep it warm until served.

Serve with chopped up chives and bacon on top.

So yummy and SO easy to  make!!! Cauliflower is a good replacement because its high in vitamin C and antioxidants!

Much love!!-- Julia

Adventures for Richman in Richmond!

Hello!!! So my boyfriend Jason understands that I have this odd obsession with Adam Richman from Man Vs. Food so on my fall break we decided to go to Richmond to all of the places he went on that episode of Man Vs. Food! We started the day at Black Sheep for their Battle Ship Sandwiches!

Jason got an entire SS Sultana (Grilled spiced ground lamb & beef topped with chopped romaine lettuce, cucumber, green onion, tomato & Russian dressing, loaded into a toasted french baguette.)

I got half of a USS Brooklyn (Jerk barbecued chicken, loaded into a toasted french baguette with shredded cabbage, roasted banana ketchup & peach chutney.) Jason's sandwich was a lot better than mine was but I have a weird thing about lamb so I wouldnt have been able to eat a lot of it anyway. I think the jerk was just too spicy on mine, but their bread is really fantastic and I loved the decor.


From there we stopped by Buz and Ned's BBQ but were too full from the Battle Ships so we just looked in for a second. We also didn't eat there because my father just so happens to make THE best BBQ in the entire world, during the summer we have 2 grills and a smoker on our deck at all times, so I don't like eating other people's BBQ. 

After that we went to Caliente for the Stupid Wings challenge! It was an experience....

Waitress: What can I get you?
Jason: I'll have the Stupid Wings.
Waitress: Thats a really bad idea, I'll get the waiver...

Two wings and some blood, sweat and tears later Jay gave up and we got milkshakes at Bev's.

That night we went on a ghost tour of Richmond which was more walking than story telling but it was a great night to be outside. It was the loveliest day!

Much love!! -- Julia

Le Pinkycakes!!

It has been a busy night in Le Sassy kitchen...its about 10:45 and the cakes just came out of the oven. For some reason I have this thing for cooking late at night?

So earlier today I asked my boyfriend what his favorite dessert was and he said "strawberry shortcake"...well I didnt feel like making that SO yay cupcakes.

These taste like butter and love.

and strawberries...kinda

Le Pinkycakes!!!! adapted from gastronomy!

Cupcakes:

    * 2/3 cup strawberries
    * 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
    * 1 teaspoon baking powder
    * 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
    * 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
    * 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
    * 1 cup sugar
    * 1 large egg
    * 2 large egg whites

Frosting:

    * 1/2 cup strawberries
    * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
    * Pinch of coarse salt
    * 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
    * 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 

Start by pulverizing about a cup and a half of strawberries (I used the magic bullet) you will need these for both the cake and the frosting.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside

In another bowl stir together the strawberry puree, whole milk and vanilla and set aside

Cream the butter until fluffy and slowly incorporate the sugar until super fluffy! Then add in the egg whites and egg one by one until they are evenly blended. Work in half the flour mixture, then the strawberry mixture, and then the other half of the flour.

Cook for about 20 minutes until golden brown. This should make about 12 cuppiecakes!

Now for that frosting fun......

Cream the butter and sugar, then add about 5 tbs of strawberry puree and mix it up til fluffy and beautiful and buttery.

Spread that shiz and ENJOY!!

Oh by the way I am totes getting the Natty Bo man tatted on my wrist....#winning

Much Love!!--Julia