All-American Flag Cake

In a city where the Fourth of July is celebrated from June 24th through July 4th, you might imagine that we take the holiday pretty seriously. Let's just say that there are at least three nights of fireworks, food and all-you-can eat ice cream events, parades, festivals, and free concerts (hello Aaron Neville, Philly Pops, Sara Bareilles, The Roots, BOYZ II MEN — swoon! I'm 13 again! — Michael McDonald, and Earth, Wind, and Fire!). It's a lot to live up to!

This year I wanted to find a festive dessert but didn't want to go the usual route of raspberry and blueberry rows on top of a cake or tart. Instead I came across a fun idea in my Googling and decided to run with it.

White cake on the outside, maybe jazzed up with a little red, white, and blue sprinkle action.

And then on the inside? That's the part that you don't tell people about. Just let them find it when they cut a slice...

Martha Stewart would totally stick a few sparklers in this puppy. 

I'm Baaack (and I'm a Mrs!)

...ahem...

So. I went away for a while. Like for over two months. I know. You see, things got a little harried in the home stretch before our wedding. I pretty much stopped baking and wasn't really cooking anything to write home about. I ate for nutrition instead of for pleasure. You know, like you're supposed to? Yeah. Boring!

At any rate, I am now a happily married woman. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the big day (photos by Sandor Welsh).

Mr. & Mrs. right after the ceremony

In front of the old Philadelphia Exchange Building

Chocolate Cups with Vanilla Bean Mousse and Mango

Happy Easter! It seems like this past year I've managed to miss blogging about most major holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving and Christmas). I took the approach of simply not mentioning them and hoped you wouldn't notice. Did you?? I hope not! I've resolved to be much better about that this year.

I recently saw a fun little idea for an easy Easter dessert — dark chocolate cups that look like egg shells, and they're filled with smooth and creamy vanilla bean mousse and a dollop of mango puree to resemble an egg yolk.

 
Pretty cute for the occasion! And did I mention delicious?

Making these is a two-step process: First make the chocolate cups, and second whip up the mousse. Wait, there's a third and fourth step. Third you puree some ripe mango and dollop it in the center of each mousse cup. And fourth? Fourth you eat your heart out.

Low-fat Papaya Coconut Muffins

With the wedding around the corner, I haven't been baking much. Maybe it's a little cliche, but I'm trying to watch my figure and also detox a bit from "the white stuff." I came across this tasty recipe when I was poking around Gina's Skinny Recipes and loved that it was so low in fat, lower in sugar, and used whole wheat flour.

Plus, let's be honest. I was thrilled to have an excuse to purchase a papaya.

They're not much to look at from the outside, but they're beautiful on the inside! Never judge a papaya buy it's cover! Isn't that what they always say?

The batter for these muffins was the loveliest shade of pink thanks to the papaya puree. They were good warm out of the oven and for a day or two beyond.

Lime Cilantro Quinoa Salad

Let's just say that if cranberries are the ninja fruit, then quinoa (keen-wah) is the ninja grain! Oh, except it's not a grain — it's actually a seed. But it sure seems like a grain. Anyway, it's a great base for making salads that you can either serve as a main or side dish. For breakfast, lunch, or dinner, in fact!

Quinoa is great for vegans and vegetarians because it packs a lot of nutritional punch (protein, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus). It's also a nice change of pace for carnivores like me, and you can take a lot of liberty with the dressing you use and ingredients you add. It's a very customizable base for whatever you can think up!

I adapted a recipe I saw on RadMegan's blog. It has nice flavor and will be a great salad for summer, when the herbs and tomatoes are growing in the garden and corn is fresh and local at farm stands! Furthermore, this recipe is quick to make and keeps nicely in the fridge for a few days.

On Carrots

I fell in love last weekend. Don't worry, Brad didn't mind.

I stumbled across the most beautiful, organic, rainbow carrots at Reading Terminal Market (Iovine Brothers). Had to have them.

To maintain the integrity of these beauties, I simply chopped them into thick strips, tossed them with a little olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper, and roasted them at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

They made a fab side dish for braised short ribs!

Spring Ahead and Enhancements!

Happy Spring to everyone in the blogosphere! What spring means to me:

• Time to start planning my herb/veggie garden.
• More daylight, which means I might be able to photograph things I cook after work. Natural light definitely makes food look the most attractive, so I am glad to have more of it!
• The start of grilling season. I really heart grilling, and we now have a sweet roof deck to grill on!
• My favorite seasonal produce. About now, I start dreaming about berries, melon, cherries, asparagus, basil, green beans, mint, strawberries, zucchini, and more. Drool.
• I'm getting married! By the time summer hits, I will already be a Mrs. !!!

And as for the enhancement, I wanted to let you know that I've made a nice addition to Consumed that I'm rather excited to share with you. Ready for it?

Drumroll please...(how does one type out a drumroll?)

At the end of each recipe post, there now will be a link to the recipe in printable format. Like so:

I told you this was exciting!

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be back-filling previously posted recipes. So feel free to revisit any of your former favorites to print off a copy for safe-keeping.

Happy spring, and I hope you have a delicious week!

Irish Potato Candy

As a resident of Philadelphia for over 5 years now, I've come to know a lot about foods that have roots in Philly. There's the cheesesteak (duh, whiz wit please!), root beer, the soft pretzel, the hoagie, Italian ice, Tastykakes, pork roll, Peanut Chews, and oh yeah — scrapple! (If you don't know what scrapple is, maybe just leave it alone...)

One more on the list of Philly faves: Irish potato candy.

There's nothing inherently Irish about these candies unless you count the fact that they look like potatoes. Note that they look like potatoes, but do not taste like potatoes. They taste like an injection of sweet, coconut-y deliciousness. Such a confused confection, no?

Monkey Bars

If you thought this post was about playground equipment, I hate to disappoint you! However, if you make this tasty bread, you might be willing to forgive me.

I brought this glorified (albeit delicious!) banana bread into work for our weekly staff meeting, where I made the mistake of calling it "monkey bread". Well, everyone got unusually excited, and I was confused by how my glorified banana bread managed to incite such a reaction. Turns out monkey bread is something else. Ever hear of it?

Restaurant Review: Sampan

My mom was at a conference for nurse practitioners right in Center City Philly — how convenient! I met up with her after work to do a little window-shopping and enjoy a little dinner. As we moseyed around, we found ourselves near the always-enjoyable 13th Street shopping.

Dinnertime approached, and we decided to be adventurous and try something new. The unique exterior of Sampan drew our attention, and we decided to give it a shot.

The restaurant had a very cool vibe, nice seating, and an urban feel. The tree wall (pictured above in the upper right) changed colors every few minutes, which was an unexpected touch. This restaurant also has a lot of different nooks throughout it — it seems like a fun place to have a few happy hour libations.

Speaking of libations, my favorite part of our dinner at Sampan was the delicious drink I ordered called Ume Tea. It was Pearl Plum Vodka, oolong tea, and lime, and man was it tasty. A delicious glass of home-brewed herbal iced tea is on my list of favorite things, so this was right up my alley.