Caroline Dines

Has anyone else seen these? I picked up this “bouquet” at Trader Joe’s this afternoon and am so excited by it. It’s called a Pumpkin Tree and it’s alive, this is not a fake decoration. I guess there some kind of squash variety? Anyway put me in a great mood and added some autumnal cheer to the apartment.

We had a relaxed afternoon filled with baking for me and computing (he’s kind of excited about a new computer) for Darin.  Since the house kitchen was busy I didn’t feel like cooking dinner which meant that we got to go out. Since we were planning on going to see a movie after dinner, we agreed on Boston Beer Works which is right near Fenway Park and the Regal Cinema that we typically go to. It was fun to be down there this evening because there was a lot going on around the Park since Ben Affleck is filming his new movie “The Town” right there.We heard machine gun fire twice which was pretty insane.

Boston Beer Works is also a microbrewery and has some awesome beer choices. I asked if they had a pumpkin brew yet and was disappointed to find out that it’s not served until October. I settled with my favorite the Blueberry Ale with Maine Blueberries.

The menu here is huge which made it a little hard to navigate but I had a strong craving for  meat so decided to go with it. I wanted the appetizer of Fried Pickles (they’re served with ranch dressing and are soooo good, weird sounding but you have to try them if you get the chance) but knew that I would be unhappy with that decision later on. Once I saw the grilled turkey tips I knew that was the winner. It came with coleslaw, jasmine rice, cornbread and broccoli.

While it doesn’t look like the prettiest of meals with some bland colors on the plate, it was seriously delicious. The turkey tips were perfect and smothered in a really yummy bbq sauce. I was happy with the small portions of cornbread, rice and coleslaw and ate about half of each of these. The only portion that was huge was the broccoli which I was totally fine with!

I ended up bringing home half of the entire meal which may or may not be around tomorrow (depends on if Darin gets to it tonight). After our movie, The Informant (which I was pleasantly surprised by), we went home and I wasted no time in getting my dessert going. As I mentioned before I recently purchased this cookbook and have been dying to try more recipes. My almond flour shipment arrived the other day and after I got the agave nectar needed at TJ’s today it was time to bake. I made the Chocolate Cake with Marshmallow Frosting.

Wow. I can’t believe how moist and cakey this turned out using very unconventional baking ingredients such as: almond flour and agave nectar. There is no regular flour in this recipe and there is no white sugar either (even in the frosting). I was so proud that it actually came out, first try! The cake was super easy but the frosting took a little more time. Basically you have to heat the agave over low heat, beat some egg whites and then drizzle the agave in while whisking it all together. I put mine in the fridge while we were out to “set up” a bit more and it was perfect when I finally got to dig in.

The cake and frosting were both quite sweet and a little piece went a long way. I liked this though because it promotes portion control without needing willpower. You simply don’t need more than a piece. The frosting isn’t really what I would call frosting but more like a whipped topping. I think I will experiment more with some of her other frosting recipes such as the peanut butter one. This definitely hit the spot tonight and I am encouraged with the success of this one to try more of Elana’s unique recipes.