one is sweet, one's for my feet

this morning was one of those awful, harumph-i'm-a-new-yorker mornings; it is absolutely freezing out, but of course i'm still wearing heels; i waited nearly a half hour for my first train, one of THREE i have to take to get to soho, which is probably a 3 or 4 mile trip from my apartment; every single one of the 3 trains i take was absolutely packed to the gills, which meant being smashed against strangers and kneed and elbowed all over my torso; and finally, when i got to work, i discovered my camera's battery was dead. UGH. fortunately i had a post saved for a time such as this.

i've been doing lots of wedding planning over the last week or so - well, i haven't figured out the big things, like where we're going on our honeymoon, or who's going to cater, but i DID manage to pick out a pair of shoes for the occasion. i knew i wanted wedges (so's not to poke holes in my in-law's lawn,) and i recently decided i wanted something red; a google search turned up these kate spade beauties, and i decided i had to have 'em.



we have narrowed down honeymoon destinations to somewhere hot & beachy, so i think these will come in quite handy then, too.

so i missed valentine's day on here by a few weeks (oops) -- sam and i kept it pretty low key, having a couple of friends over for dinner. sam made an amazing perch chowder (a chowder, in fact, that he caught all the fish for himself, through several inches of snow, the weekend before the holiday,)_ i put together a warm valentines-y salad (consisting primarily of goat cheese and roasted beets cut into heart shapes.) as it happened, we were all too full to eat dessert, so i made the one i'd been planning for that night later in the week when some friends were in town to visit.



white chocolate soufflé with blueberry whiskey compote

recipe adapted from epicurean

makes four large or 6-8 medium soufflés

ingredients:

3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
4 eggs, separated
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat the oven to 400°F. butter 4 individual soufflé dishes, about 8 ounces each. lightly dust the bottom and sides of the dishes with sugar. melt the chocolate over barely simmering water; set aside to cool.

in a large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. add the salt and cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form. gradually add 2 tablespoons of the sugar, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form. in a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and pale in color. beat in the remaining 4 tablespoons sugar. stir in the vanilla and the melted chocolate. fold one-fourth of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it; fold this mixture into the remaining egg whites. spoon the soufflé mixture into the prepared dishes. bake for 10-12 minutes or until set and golden brown; if in doubt, give them an extra minute or two.

for the blueberry compote:

1 pint blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 T vanilla bean paste (or one vanilla bean)
about 1/2 cup of whiskey

combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer on low heat until the bite has gone out of the whiskey and the sugar has dissolved; use a wooden spoon to stir and mash the blueberries. use a spoon to make an indentation in the soufflés and pour in the compote. enjoy!

hopefully an outfit post to come, if i can figure out this camera business.

xo audrey