New Flour Bakery in Back Bay

On Valentines morning, my team and I had to be in the office by 7:15AM for a 7:30 call that went until just before 10.  Needless to say, it was not the most romantic way to start the day, but the morning was saved by a post-call trip to the new Flour Bakery on Clarendon Street in the Back Bay!  My colleague wanted to pick up some desserts for her hunnie, so three of us took a little walk to help her pick them out.

A huge fan of the Flour Bakery in Fort Point, I couldn't wait to see the new location.  It's right behind the Back Bay T station, close to where the Hard Rock Cafe used to be.  I immediately fell in love with the decor; neutral wood, white and stainless steel made for a modern, yet comfortable space for enjoying breakfast, lunch or dessert.

The selection seemed a bit smaller than Fort Point, though that could have been due to less display space.  It was crowded and I didn't want to be too obnoxious taking forever with pictures and questions, but I did have enough time to fawn over the cases filled with sweets, especially these pastel-filled oreos, and giant tubs of ready-to-bake cookie dough.

My favorite find in the cafe (besides all of the sweets) was their unique artwork.  There was a large chalkboard that greeted customers, shared some weather facts and wished everyone a festive Happy Valentine's Day.  On the back walls, I found awesome framed images of little bubble people with funny sayings.  The best was two cute little people captioned with "Your perfume makes me gag."  We all know what that's like!  Too funny.

While I hadn't planned on getting anything to eat in preparation for a big dinner later that night, I just couldn't pass up trying the breakfast sandwich.  It was HUGE- egg, bacon, cheese, arugula, tomatoes and spicy dijon on a big, fat, chewy bun.  The dijon was way too spicy for me, I hadn't breathed that clearly in ages, but despite watery eyes from the spice, this sandwich was one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches ever.  It was fresh and filling, in fact I didn't eat again until dinner that evening.

Flour is one of my favorite bakeries in the city (accompanied by Lulu's and Bova's), and the new location did not disappoint.  I'm thrilled (and scared for my waistline) that it is so close to work!  If you're a fellow Flour-lover, what are you favorite things there?  Let me know in the comments below.

Blizzard Breakfast

Today is one of the best snowdays ever.  Starting around 11AM yesterday, Boston has been literally buried in snow.  The T (subway & bus system) is completely closed, and there's even a driving ban in the state- no driving at all unless you're essential personel.  Craziness!  Being snowed in called for a warm, comforting brunch, so B-hubs and I tag-teamed it to make these...

Bacon egg scramble-stuffed popovers!  Ahhhhh heaven.  I did the popovers, Jake did the egg scramble.  Popovers are one of my favorite things to bake.  They are a quick, 4-ingredient carb-y bun that is good with any meal, but we usually do them for breakfast.  They remind us of Jordan Pond up in Maine, which is the first place we tried popovers a few years back.  My in-laws gifted a popover pan to us, and we've been hooked ever since.

So far we've been in all day, enjoying brunch, blankets and catching up on episodes of Modern Family (I almost cried laughing at Lily's snarky comments from two weeks ago, does somebody need a WAMMM-bulance?!) This afternoon will probably bring us outside to check out how beautiful Boston looks under two feet of snow, then tonight we'll put on the snow pants and ski goggles and hike down to TD Garden for the Bruins game.  Faithful season ticket holders we are!

Here are some pictures from the blizzard so far.  For everyone in the area, I hope you are safe and warm!  For those who want to make some popovers, the recipe is at the bottom of this post.

7PM - Outside of Corner Tavern on Mass Ave (which was completely packed, by the way!) 

Quiet night on the roads

Looking out the window when I woke up

Happy weekend, all!

BostonSweetie's Popover Recipe - makes 6:

Need:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 tsp of salt

Do:

• Preheat oven to 450F
• Grease a popover pan, 6 custard cups, or 6 cups in a muffin tin
• Gently beat the two eggs in a medium bowl - don't overbeat!  Then add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth.
• Fill each cup about half way, evenly distributing the batter between the 6 cups
• Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 and bake for another 20 minutes. 

Notes:

Don't open the oven while these are baking- they pop up with the steam and you don't want to mess up the temperature in the oven while they're trying to rise and pop.

Today was the first time I used a cup of almond milk instead of skim milk.  We switched milk types on the first of the year, and don't keep cow's milk in the house anymore.  They still tasted great, but definitely didn't rise/pop as much as they do with cow milk.

The great thing about popovers is that they are airy in the center and perfect for filling with anything!  This morning we filled them with butter and a scramble of eggs, bacon, peppers and onions.  We also love mixing butter and jam, or cream cheese and jam.

Enjoy!

Sweet breakfast - Berry Quinoa

Today's post is not my typical sweet, but it is a sweet indeed.  As part of the healthy start for 2013, I tried a new breakfast recipe found on 101 Cookbooks.

Until this, I'd only had quinoa as a savory item, replacing rice or barley as a side.  This recipe confirmed that quinoa is an excellent breakfast food, too!  The finished product is warm, filling, satisfying, healthy, and despite the lack of white sugar, surprisingly sweet!  This will definitely have a spot on our weekend breakfast routine this year.

To try this for yourself, check out the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks here.  I made a few tweaks based on what I had in the cabinets:

Need:

• 1 cup skim milk 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup organic quinoa
• 2 cups frozen mixed berries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
• 4 teaspoons agave nectar

Do:

1. Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. 
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down to low once it boils.
3. Let mixture simmer with the cover on for 15-20 minutes, then turn off heat and let it sit covered for another 5.
4. While the quinoa is simmering, heat oven to 350F. 
5. Spread walnuts on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, and toast in the oven for 5 minutes.   
6. Defrost frozen berries in the microwave, and drain most of the liquid off of them.  
7. Stir the berries and cinnamon into quinoa, then portion out and top off each with the toasted walnuts and a teaspoon of the agave nectar.

Enjoy!  If you try this recipe, or have other great breakfast quinoa recipes to recommend, let me know in the comments below!

Weekend Bagels

On a Saturday morning, what is better than a fresh, hot toasted bagel and cream cheese?

Nothing, except for a fresh, hot toasted bagel that you mixed, boiled and baked yourself!

Last weekend I made a batch of 10 homemade wheat bagels and I'll tell you right now, this recipe is a keeper.  It's easy, fairly quick (total time of about 3 hours) and the finished product is so, so good.

I adapted a recipe from Serious Eats to make a somewhat healthier version with a mix of wheat and white flour.  You can check out the original here or follow my version here.

Happy weekend, sweets!

Need:

• 2 cups white bread flour
• 1 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cup hot water 

Do:

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients (only 2 tablespoons of the white sugar) in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment to combine.
2. Switch to the dough hook, and slowly add hot water with the mixer on low.  
3. Continue mixing with the mixer on a medium setting until dough becomes shiny and stretchy without breaking, about 1 - 2 min. 
4. Spray large bowl with cooking spray (or grease however you choose) and transfer the dough to this bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put a kitchen towel over that, then let the dough sit for 1 hour to rise. 
5. After 1 hour, fill the biggest pot you have with water, add the other 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and bring to a boil.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
7. Lightly flour a large working space, put the dough on it and punch out all of the air.  Split the dough into 10 even portions. 
8. Roll one portion into a rope shape, about 7-8" long, wrap it around your hand and pinch the ends together to make a bagel shape.  
9. Put your first bagel back on the table and cover with a large portion of plastic wrap.  Make the rest of the portions into bagel shapes, keeping them all under the plastic wrap to rise for another 10 minutes.
10. The pot of water should be boiling now, if so, use a slotted spoot to transfer 1 or 2 bagels into the water.  Let them boil for 30 sec - 1 minute on each side, then transfer to a clean kitchen towel.  If you want a fluffier bagel, boil it less.  If you want a chewier bagel, boil it more.
11. After all of the bagels are boiled, dry them off with your towel, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Flip the bagels, and bake for 10 minutes more, and enjoy your fresh-baked breakfast!

Bagels risin'

Bagels boilin'

Bagels dryin'

Bagels baked and ready for eatin'!

Healthy Pumpkin Bread

Hubs & I have a cruise coming up in two weeks, woohoo!  With that in mind, I was craving a sweet bread for breakfast but didn't want to kill my calorie count for the day.  After a little google searching, I found a pumpkin bread recipe and tweaked it just a bit to make it healthy and incorporate what I had in the house.  I warned J that it may not taste as good as usual due to the health factor, but he loved it just the same.  I did too!  Bonus on this recipe?  It's super easy.  One-bowl-wonder.  Love.

Special thank you to my Auntie Elisa who gave me 2-cup packs of her fresh, homemade pumpkin puree.  Healthy, delicious super food.  Thanks Auntie!!

Healthy Pumpkin Bread (adapted from Kitchen Stewardship)

Need:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/8 cup ground flaxseed meal
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree

Do: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl
3. Grease loaf pan
4. Pour batter into loaf pan
5. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes

We ate ours warm with some light cream cheese dolloped on top.  Happy Sunday!

Almond Grape Tea Cake

For cake three out of four for the Cake for Every Pan challenge, I present you with Martha Stewart's Almond Grape Tea Cake!  Baked in a square loaf pan, everyone will want to call this bread instead of cake.  I am totally on board with that, because it makes it acceptable to eat this sweet treat for breakfast!

I happened to bake this cake up just in time for my family's annual Labor Day camping trip to NH.  One morning with breakfast, we cut up slices and toasted them on the camp stove.  This cake, served warm with a side of hot chocolate is one of the best camping snacks we've tried.  Even if you don't see yourself eating this fire-side, I recommend baking it up next time you're enjoying breakfast or brunch with some of your own sweeties :)

Cake for every Pan Challenge #3 - great success!

     

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food:

Need:

• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds (not salted, totally plain.)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• zest of one whole lemon
• about 15-20 grapes cut in half

Do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray your loaf pan with non-stick spray
• Beat butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar on high for 3 minutes (make sure you time it!)
• Beat in eggs one by one.
• In a food processor, pulse almonds with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until you have a fine, home-made flour.  
• Mix your almond flour into the butter mixture until combined, then add your vanilla and lemon zest.
• Pour the batter into your loaf pan and smooth out the top.  
• Arrange your grape halves ontop of the batter, pressing them in gently.  I did a chevron pattern, Martha did polka dots, you can do whatever you like!
• Bake for about 1 hour, and then let cake cool on a wire rack.
• Enjoy!

Saturday Breakfast - Strawberry Pancakes

After a long, long week, there is nothing better than sitting down at the table and having my sweet husband put this in front of me:

Strawberry pancakes are my favorite.  Especially at this time of year when the strawberries are so fresh.  I've been buying tons lately - they've been on "buy one get one" sale for the last two weeks, I cant resist!

While I was busy baking up a fresh batch of coconut cupcakes for the Bloggers Bake for Hope winner, hubs chopped up a bunch of our fresh berries and whipped these up for our breakfast.  Thank you hubby, and thank you to Scott and Renee who generously donated to the MA Komen for a Cure and won my "Frost Yourself Cupcake Kit!"  It's on it's way to you and should arrive on Monday.  Happy weekend everyone!