Lunchtime Links for October 30th, 2009

• More Pumpkin: Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Carving Kit.
• PW Cooks: Buttered Rosemary Rolls.
• Gossip Girl: TVGasm recap of Monday's episode.
• The City: Recap from NYMag.
• Cakespy: Halloween Links.

Lindor Truffles Hot Chocolate

At the Lindt store the other day, I came across some simple Recipe Cards at the register.  One card in particular struck me as a simple and cute idea: Lindor Truffles Hot Chocolate.

The basic recipe is as follows:

- 1 cup milk
- 3 Lindor Truffles

1.  Heat milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat or microwave it for 1 minute.
2.  Unwrap 3 Lindor Truffles, add to the milk, and whisk.
3.  Continue to heat until desired temperature- do not bring to boil.  Enjoy as is or garnish with whipped cream.

I especially liked a few of their recommended flavor combinations, like:

- White Hazelnut (1 Hazelnut + 2 White Chocolate)
- Ultimate Chocolate (1 Milk Chocolate + 1 Dark Chocolate + 1 60% Extra Dark)
- Dark Peppermint (2 Peppermint + 1 60% Extra Dark)

I could see this also going with the Peanut Butter truffle + Chocolate,  or just White Chocolate truffles, etc. etc. 

So simple, but sounds really delicious!

Lunchtime Links for October 29th, 2009

• Leftover Candy: Things to do with leftover Halloween candy.
• PW Cookbook: Now available!
• Halloween Celebs: Lots of fun options for Saturday.
• Meatpacking Uncorked: From the NYC Wine & Food Festival.
• Chai Latte Sample: Free from Oregon Chai. 

Restaurant List

This is a running list of restaurants that I haven't been to slash want to go to- if I don't write it down somewhere I'll never remember them all.  Thanks to N for the idea of keeping a list on my blog!  This list can also be found from my main page, via "View my Complete Profile" on the sidebar, then to "Wishlist".

• ACKC Cocoa Bar
• Addie's
• Againn (Rockville, DC)
• Babbo
• Balthazar
• Bayou Bakery
• Birch & Barley
• BGR The Burger Joint (Arlington, Bethesda, Dupont Circle)
• BlackSalt
• Bouchon Bakery (Carryout, Dining Room)
• Bouley Bakery
• Bourbon Steak DC (Bar, Dining Room)
• Buttercup Bake Shop
• Butter Lane
• Capogiro Gelateria
• Central
• CF Folks
• Churchkey
• City Bakery
• CityZen (Bar, Main Dining Room)
• Co./Company
• Corduroy
• Cork Wine Bar
• Dessert Club ChikaLicious
• Di Fara Pizzeria
• Doughnut Plant
• Eleven Madison Park
• EN Japanese Brasserie
• Ess-A-Bagel
• Estadio
• Et Voila!
• Eventide
• Fatty Crab
• Financier Pastry Shop
• Four Sisters
• Gramercy Tavern
• Honey Pig
• Inn at Little Washington
• J & G Steakhouse
• Jacques Torres Chocolate
• Katsuhama
• Kin Shop
• Komi
• Kotobuki
• Kushi
• L'Arte del Gelato
• Le Bernardin
• Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte
• Locanda Verde
• Luke's Lobster
• Lyon Hall 
• Mandu
• Maoz Vegetarian
• Marvin
• Masa 14
• Masala Art
• Medium Rare
• Me Jana
• Michael's Noodles
• Michel Richard Citronelle
• Minetta Tavern
• Minibar at Cafe Atlantico
• Momofuku (Ko, Ssam, Noodle Bar, Milk Bar, Ma Peche)
• Murray's Cheese Shop
• Otto
• Oyamel
• Palena
• Payard
• Perilla
• Ping Pong Dim Sum
• Po
• Poste Modern Brasserie (Bar, Dining Room)
• Present
• Rasika
• The Redhead
• Ren's Ramen
• Restaurant Eve
• Rogue 24
• Russ and Daughters
• Screwtop Wine Bar
• Shopsins
• The Source
• Sou'Wester
• Spotted Pig
• SquareBurger
• Sugar Sweet Sunshine
• Sullivan Street Bakery
• Sundaes & Cones
• Sushi Taro (new)
• Sushi Yasuda
• Tabard Inn
• Tavira
• Ted's Bulletin
• Topolobampo
• Two Little Red Hens
• Volt (Dining Room, Table 21)
• WD-50
• Xie Xie

Lunchtime Links for October 28th, 2009

• The Bent Spoon: Love Love Love this place!
• Top Chef: Recap of last week's episode.
• Gaga + Gossip Girl: Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
• Gossip Girl: Reality Index Recap.

Lunchtime Links for October 27th, 2009

• Halloween Treats: 4 Recipes from Real Simple.
• The Hills: Recap of last week's episode.
• Top Chef: Top Chef Desserts!
• BaconFest: Lots of bacon-love in Chicago.

Recipe Review: Ina Garten's Honey Vanilla Pound Cake

Mise en place- now with 328743% more BUTTER.

I took a break from my Pumpkin Baking Fest '09 to try out another Ina Garten recipe from her Back to Basics cookbook.  This Honey Vanilla Pound Cake sounded simple and delicious, so I gave it a whirl. 

Recipes like this one are when a stand mixer really really comes in handy.  I mean it wouldn't be difficult to do this with a hand mixer but it's nice to let the mixer blend one thing while you're putting together another bowl to throw in there also.  Two things you may have to prepare for is getting your butter to "cool room temperature" and eggs to room temperature.  I put the butter and eggs out on a plate before heading down to the gym, which worked out well. 

 

Smell-o-vision would come in handy here.

The pound cake started out flat and almost caved in for the first 20 minutes or so, but as you can see it puffed up and cracked nicely on top by the end of the bake time.  This is a v. rich (hi, 2 sticks of butter + 4 eggs) and delicious pound cake.  The vanilla and honey combined made my kitchen smell AMAZING and you could really taste both in the pound cake.  I would highly recommend you try this recipe out- but make sure you have friends to share this with- might be dangerous to leave a whole loaf at home to yourself, haha.