Lisa Cavallari | Home Is Where The Haggis Is | Page 42

Author Archives: Lisa Cavallari
- The Outpost General Store
  
  Posted at 3:02 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Nov 4th
  Recently, I heard that one of my yoga instructors, Joe had opened a new store called The Outpost with his wife, Caroline in Wayne, IL which is not that far from where we live. Actually, I had no idea where Wayne was located until I looked it up. Talk about a little town with a big personality; there are all kinds of horse farms along the main road (Army Trail Road for you locals) and the town itself feels as if you have stepped back in time. There is a small post office and police station -kind of like the towns in the two movies Funny Farm and Baby Boom, but without any of the crazies.
  
  The first time I went there was with my mom who is my all-time favorite shopping partner. We were in heaven looking at all of the items in the store.
  
  There was an equestrian theme throughout because Caroline loves to ride horses. I was eyeing a set of placecards with a horse bit design and went back recently to buy them because I kept thinking how perfect they would be when my husband and I host Christmas dinner this year. “Oh Lisa,” I can already hear my mother-in-law saying, “wherever did you find these?” Both her and my parents grew up riding horses so I am positive these will elicit rave reviews.
  
  This store is a gold mine for gift shopping or for a little something for yourself and, might I add, that everything is so reasonable!
  
  My mom bought these adorable Matryoshka doll lip glosses that would make perfect stocking stuffers for my girls. I also found an owl-shaped lip gloss for my daughter’s Kindergarten teacher because she has an affinity for them.
  
  Let’s go inside.
  
  It is pretty apparent that Caroline has some decorating experience. This vignette was beckoning me to sink into one of the high-back leather chairs with a glass of wine and good book.
  
  I am pining for this hair on hide stool. Here are also their hours of operation.
  
  Another cozy corner. The bowl of clementines is so simple, yet very chic with the pop of color. Maybe switch to a bowl of chestnuts for winter? With little ones in my house this would have to suffice as a centerpiece on our kitchen table, but I love the idea nonetheless.
  
  There is an adorable kids corner filled with wonderful books. The Tiffany’s Table Manners book is a must for my girls in the not-too-distant future. They also have lots of penny candy that is priced around 5 cents.
  
  There is a bakery section as well. On this particular day they were sampling brownies, cookies and pies. The sawdust pie has me intrigued as well as the black bottom bourbon.
  
  Pumpkin cookies. So sweet.
  
  Some incredibly beautiful coffee table books are placed about as well.
  
  They also have a wonderful assortment of wines and spirits.
  
  These bottles of gin scream ‘focal point’ for a bar at home. Seriously though, wouldn’t they make a great gift for the man in your life?
  
  Maybe whiskey is more his style? They have that too. I would love a set of antlers like this one pictured. Gotta love the humorous pieces such as the sign too. Seriously, I could spend a lot of time in this store taking in all of the details.
  
  Check out that rack. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
  
  You can even grab a bundle of locally chopped firewood tied in twine on your way out.
  
  Go check it out!
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  Posted in Shopping
- Get to Kneading-Homemade Spaghetti
  
  Posted at 2:06 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Oct 30th
  Gorgeous
  
  Last weekend we had a few friends over for some wine and, after we had some time to catch up, it was time for the girls to roll up their sleeves, crank up some Sinatra and begin concocting our own homemade spaghetti. The pictures below really speak for themselves thanks to my talented friend, Sylvia and my husband for taking some good photos. Speaking of talent, my other friend Georgette as well as Sylvia rocked it. Their pasta turned out way better than mine…said the teacher who planned this little shindig. Just goes to show that newbies need not be afraid.
  
  Grandma Cavallari’s Homemade Spaghetti-this was a fun recipe to learn in my husband’s grandmother’s kitchen years ago. She was and still is a very tidy cook, but I think if you end up with flour on the floor then you are doing something right. Enjoy!
  
  Please note that we used a pasta machine that can be anchored to the edge of your counter top. They also have attachments to stand alone mixers that you can use too.
  
  The process was pretty simple. Begin with setting a pot of water to boil on the stove adding enough salt to make it taste like the ocean. Measure about one and 1/4 cups of flour and pour onto a clean surface. Create a well in the middle that will resemble a moon crater. Then crack two eggs into the center of the well and begin to slowly work the dough through your fingers. The dough will probably start off very sticky, but you can gradually add more flour as you need it. You are looking for a pliable consistency that is not sticky, yet not hard like putty.
  
  Rolling and cutting dough
  
  Cranking the dough
  
  Crank it!
  
  Keep cranking!
  
  Almost there…
  
  I see it!
  
  Olivia’s very own spaghetti
  
  Spaghetti
  
  Wine: an important component
  
  Then, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough and cut it small enough to fit into the pasta machine. I am sure the size cut varies depending on the machine, but our dough pieces were about 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide. My machine had three different slots to crank the dough through. The first was the lasagne which we used first to flatten it out. Then, we ran it through the lasagne slot again to make sure it was even and thin enough. Finally, you run the dough through the spaghetti slot and you get a wonderful pile of spaghetti.
  
  Place the spaghetti on a cookie sheet and keep working in batches. We went through a total of six eggs so it ended up factoring out to be one egg per person.
  
  Gently place the spaghetti into the boiling water and stir gradually. The pasta will cook very quickly and plump up a bit as it cooks too. Give it about a minute or two to cook stirring constantly and drain immediately.
  
  My three old daughter was having fun helping with the process so if she can do it, then we can all give this a try. Good luck!!
  
  Tomato sauce with Sweet Italian Sausage- I made this sauce before my friends arrived to save on time. If you plan to do the same, just keep it covered with the heat on very low. Stir it every 7-10 minutes until you add the spaghetti.
  
  serves 6
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/4 cup olive oil
  
  1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
  
  2 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
  
  2 cloves garlic chopped
  
  2 bay leaves
  
  1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  
  1/2 tsp saffron
  
  1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  
  1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  
  1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, torn
  
  About 1 pound spaghetti
  
  1 cup shredded pecorino cheese
  
  Directions:
  
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until brown, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 6 minutes. stirring everything together.
  
  2. Add the garlic, bay leaves, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes to skillet. Scatter the saffron seeds over the mixture. Cook for about 2 more minutes. Add the parsley, 1 cup basil and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 mintues stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
  
  3. Meanwhile, take the spaghetti you made above or boiled from a box (no judgement here) and drain reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water to add to the sauce. Add the spaghetti and cooking liquid to the sauce and cook for about 5 more minutes.
  
  4. Remove pan from heat. Add pecorino and remaining basil and serve immediately. Buon appetito!
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  Posted in Cooking | Tagged home made pasta, Homemade Spaghetti
- Everything’s Coming Up Pumpkins
  
  Posted at 6:13 pm by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Oct 22nd
  The frost is quite literally on the pumpkin. It snowed a litle today and to think that we experienced 70 degree days only a few short weeks ago. Oh well. If some of you know me well enough then you know that fall is my favorite season.
  
  I have been baking up lots of batches of various pumpkin goodies this year so I wanted to dedicate my first post to a pumpkin recipe that has served me well in the past and a new recipe that is already a hit among friends and family.
  
  Chocolate Pumpkin Cake -featured on the left Golden Pumpkin Cake -featured right
  
  Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread– this sweet bread is full of the flavors of fall. It’s the autumnal version of banana bread. My husband’s grandmother passed this recipe along to me a few years ago after I begged for it. The recipe for the icing she puts on top is still top secret, but I will continue to ask for it and update this post if she obliges.
  
  Ingredients
  
  3 1/2 cups flour
  
  2 tsp baking soda
  
  1 1/2 tsp salt
  
  2 tsp cinnamon
  
  1 tsp nutmeg
  
  3 cups sugar
  
  1 cup oil
  
  4 eggs
  
  2/3 cup water
  
  2 cups canned pumpkin puree
  
  Directions
  
  Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Beat eggs, add oil, water, pumpkin. Mix well. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in 1/2 bag miniature chocolate chips.
  
  Pour into 4 small rectangular baking pans that have been greased and insert waxed paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes. Cool in pan.
  
  Pumpkin Bread
  
  Golden Pumpkin Cake– this cake is light and moist and downright divine with a cup of cofee in the morning
  
  Ingredients
  
  1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden Mix
  
  2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
  
  2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
  
  1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
  
  3 large whole eggs
  
  2/3 cup water
  
  Directions
  
  Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one nine inch loaf pan, pour in batter and bake for 60-65 minutes depending on your oven. Make sure a toothpick that is inserted comes out clean.
  
  Honey and Spice Buttercream Frosting
  
  1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
  
  1/4 cup honey
  
  1/4 cup granulated sugar
  
  1/4 tsp salt
  
  1 tsp ground cinnamon
  
  1 3/4 sticks of butter, room temperature
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  
  Hint: You can prepare this frosting ahead of time and just chill until you are ready to use. Re-whip it before spreading on the cake.
  
  Combine gelatin and 1 Tbl water and let sit for 10 minutes. Bring honey, sugar, and 1 Tbl water to a boil in small saucepan, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 3 minutes. Stir 3 Tbl of honey mixture in with gelatin until dissovled. Whisk into remaining honey mixture along with salt and cinnamon. Pour into a medium bowl and beat, using a mixer set on high speed for 10 minutes and doubled in size. Add butter, a few Tbl at a time until completely mixed. Finally, add the vanilla and frost the pumpkin loaf.
  
  The frosting is a bit labor intensive, but worth it!
  
  Golden Pumpkin Cake
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  Posted in Baking | Tagged Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Cake
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