Homemade tortillas

Over the weekend I had my family over dinner. I figured it was only appropriate, they helped us move all of our stuff and feed us just about every weekend so it was time for us to to feed them for once.

We had fajitas for dinner and I decided to make homemade tortillas for the first time. It was pretty easy and super tasty. I even got to purchase a new ingredient that I had never used before... 

You know you're really cookin' when you break out the lard!

I used a pretty simple recipe that I found on Pinterest. Their tortillas are much prettier than mine were, I kept burning them a little. I couldn't quite get the temperature of the skillet right, I think that will take some practice. I should also maybe try to not do three other things while making tortillas. 

Thankfully I had my brother helping me. He rolled the dough balls and then rolled the balls out into tortillas and I fried them. 

I forgot to take pictures of the tortillas on the night we had them so these are leftover tortillas. They don't look as good leftover, and to be honest I'm not sure I really cooked them right. But they tasted good either way and no one died, which is all that really matters.

There's nothing like good Polish food

One thing that I do like about our apartment is how close it is to an incredible Polish restaurant, Polonia. I'll admit it's the only Polish food I've ever had, so I'm no Polish expert, but this place is definitely worth driving to Longwood for.

I've been for dinner a few times and for lunch once. When I went for lunch the special was a turkey BLT on homemade challah, with a side of homemade chicken noodle soup, even the noodles were homemade.

Even just looking at that terrible cell phone picture makes me drool. They make the best breads at Polonia. 

When I've been for dinner I've tried several things on the menu, I'll list those below. Unfortunately I don't have any other pictures, I'm always way too excited to eat the food that I forget to photograph it.

The beef goulash is probably my favorite dish, which I've gotten with kluski noodles and with mashed potatoes (my preference). The beef is tender and has a really flavorful sauce/gravy, it practically melts in your mouth.

The chicken cutlets are pan fried and come with a nice herb butter, which I like to mix in with the mashed potatoes so the breading on the chicken doesn't get wet, I can't handle soggy breading. Then you have buttery herb potatoes to go with your crispy chicken cutlet, it's very good.

Polonia is only the second place I have ever had Blintzes, Too Jays being the other, and they were the best ones I've ever had. They are so delicate and creamy and they come with fresh strawberry sauce, that I'm sure was also homemade just like everything else they serve.

I am not a huge cabbage fan but their stuffed cabbages are pretty good, and you get a choice of red sauce or mushroom sauce on top. I've only tried the mushroom sauce and it was really good. I love mushrooms and pretty much anything with mushrooms as the primary ingredient.

They also have AMAZING dessert. The lemon mascarpone cake is beyond fantastic. I've gotten a piece every single time I've been there and this year my mom ordered a whole cake for my birthday, it's just THAT GOOD!

We will definitely keep going to Polonia after we move, but I will miss being so close. Polonia is worth the drive no matter where you live, map it out and make a plan, you won't be disappointed.

Moving is really cramping my style

With only ELEVEN days left until Christopher and I move into OUR first house, almost all of our stuff is packed. There are so many boxes, it's like living in a maze. 

All of my beautiful baking supplies are packed, all of our glasses are packed, pantry goods are packed, cake pans are packed, rice cooker is packed, even most of our gadgets are packed. We pretty much only have tervis tumblers, plates, silverware, two wooden spoons and a couple of pans left out. It's depressing. There won't be any real cooking for a while. 

So instead of cooking, we've started drinking mimosas out of plastic cups, because we are super classy like that. Be jealous.

Oreo Truffles

I love chocolate, like a lot. So when my mom made Oreo Truffles for a family dinner I had to go to Publix on the way home to buy the stuff I needed to make them myself. They are so good and only have three ingredients, it is my go to last minute treat.

The goods

1 package Oreo cookies

1 8oz package of cream cheese - softened 

1 package of semi sweet chocolate chips to melt or 2 packages of semi sweet bakers chocolate squares

(see recipe for exact instructions)

Put the whole package of Oreos in in a food processor and turn those cookies into crumbs. 

Mix the crumbs and softened cream cheese together and then roll into 1in balls. 

Put a toothpick into the balls and freeze them for a few min to make sure they will stay on the sticks. Then dip into the melted semi sweet chocolate.

Let dry completely on parchment paper. 

You can also try rolling them in things like, cookie crumbs, sprinkles, nuts, coco powder... but I'm just not that fancy. Or maybe it's that I'm lazy... either way, they are delicious anyway you make them.

What's your drink?

I don't to a lot of drinking, but when I do I am pretty picky. I don't really like beer, but I have decided that some of the ciders aren't bad. Normally when I go out for a drink I prefer a Margarita or a Gin Rickey to beer or other liquors; however over the weekend I went to a really casual bar downtown, where I'm pretty sure I would have looked ridiculous drinking either one of those things, so I decided to get a cider to try and blend. 

The cider they had was Strongbow, in a can... it felt a little trashy and kind of trendy so... when in Rome. 

What is your favorite drink when you are out? Do you have different drinks for different occasions?