This and That

Ugh, I love her so much.

Need this temporary tattoo.

Exciting studies being done at UT.

Kickstarter-funded projects at the MoMA.

A fantastic Breaking Bad tribute.

A short lexicon of Italian gestures.

Getting excited about our summer trip.

(Photo via Pinterest)

Wedding Anniversary Photo Opp Idea

On our anniversary trip to Marfa earlier this month, Chris and I wanted to do something to commemorate our wedding last year since we were traveling back for the first time to the place where we met. We ending up deciding to take our pie topper from our reception with us and pose it, gnome-style, all over town. I think this would have also worked really well with any other easy-to-transport item from your wedding, like a banner or sign or frame. Pretty cute, eh? I can just imagine these little guys running around Marfa listening to this Kishi Bashi song.

 At Prada Marfa

 At El Cosmico

At Chinati

 At Fat Lyle's

At Hotel Paisano

Adventures in Marfa

Since Chris and I met in Marfa, we decided to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary with a trip there this past weekend. We glamped at El Cosmico the first night, then were at Hotel Paisano the rest of our stay. We made side trips to Big Bend and the McDonald Observatory, to get our hiking and geeking on. We went to Padre's (the site of our first encounter!). We ate at Cochineal (amazing), Fat Lyle's (the perfect break from our daylong Chinati tour), and Pizza Foundation (always a pleasure). We happened upon a show at Ballroom Marfa where the lead singer of Animal Collective, a member of Dirty Projectors, and the drummer from Ponytail were, you know, just playing music for free.

And we fell in love just a little bit more with the tiny town that plays such a huge role in our personal lore.

Prada Marfa

 Our safari tent lit up at El Cosmico

 Chinati

Chinati

View from the top of the Marfa courthouse

 At the top of the Marfa courthouse

 North entrance to Big Bend National Park

 Big Bend

 McDonald Observatory

Three-Cheese Eggplant Calzone with Tomato Dipping Sauce

Long time, no recipes! I have been crazy-busy with editing and writing for work, and also recovering from a weird lung infection that made me feel like I was having a heart attack 24/7. I wish I were exaggerating that last bit, but no. An EKG was involved in my diagnosis and everything. It was kind of terrifying in that way only having a medical mystery become your life is. You start hanging out on WebMD so much that everything seems like it could possibly be happening to you, and then your husband has to cut you off because you end up in tears one afternoon because you're convinced you have cancer. Yeah, it was like that.

Anywho! I am finally feeling better now, and I took a half-day to do some much-needed long-lunching (at Titaya's), comic book shopping (at Austin Books and Comics), and blog posting (right here).

So, basically, all you need to know is that this calzone absolutely rules. And that you should use a pizza stone if you have one for a nice crunchy crust base. And that when you're feeling sick and awful, a nice warm calzone goes a long way into making you feel better.

Ingredients
Calzone
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium eggplant, cut in 1/4-inch thick slices
Salt and pepper
Pizza dough (I used half of this D:ALS recipe for mine.)
1 cup ricotta
1 cup grated mozzerella
1/3 cup grated parmesan
Dried oregano
1 egg, beaten

Sauce
1 cup diced tomatoes, strained
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
Red pepper flakes
Pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Directions
Calzone
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange eggplant slices on a baking sheet coated in olive oil. Season eggplant with salt and pepper. Roast for 16 minutes, flip over, then roast for 8 more minutes. Let cool.
-Roll your pizza dough out to about 12 inches wide. Mix ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan in a medium bowl, then season to taste with salt, pepper, and oregano.
-Stir the cooled eggplant into the cheese mix. Then pile it down the center of your dough. Pull the sides of the dough over the center cheese mound, then press and squeeze the sides closed.
-Brush the calzone with the beaten egg.
-Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (on a pizza stone if you have one), until golden.

Sauce
-While the calzone is baking, simmer the tomatoes, salt, garlic, some red pepper flakes, a pinch of sugar, and the red wine vinegar in a small pan for 5 minutes.

-Serve the calzone with the sauce on the side.

(Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

This and That

Such a cute tank to make.

Need to check out the new Raven + Lily store.

Fiona Apple on a French superhero TV show.

Like this water bottle.

The story behind a recent New Yorker poem.

How to make Italian sodas, my beverage of choice in college.

(Image via Pinterest)

Dreamy Camera Cafe

A cafe in the shape of a vintage camera? Is this part of a dream in a Wes Anderson film? 

No, it's the Dreamy Camera Cafe, in South Korea. Love. This. So. Much.

(Images via Brit + Co)

Cappellacci (Sweet Potato Ravioli)

I'm (slowly) working my way through Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, which I got for Christmas, and this recipe needed to be made mostly because cookies are in the sweet potato filling. I repeat: cookies are in the sweet potato filling! I understand that might turn some people off, but it was irresistible to me. 

It might sound a little indulgent, but what else would you expect from the genius of a woman who popularized putting five tablespoons of butter into tomato sauce? The cookies add a little crunch to the filling that is just perfect.

Ingredients

For the sweet potato filling

2 medium-size sweet potatoes

2 Italian amaretti cookies

1 egg yolk

4 tablespoons prosciutto, chopped

1 1/2 cups grated parmigiano-reggiano

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley (or substitute with fresh)

Pinch of whole nutmeg

Salt

For the pasta*

1 2/3 cups unbleached flour

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon water

For the butter and parmesan cream sauce

1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

*I made this ravioli two nights in a row, one night with pasta from scratch and the other with wonton wrappers instead (which I had seen in other recipes). It works infinitely better with the homemade pasta, but if you are crunched for time, the wonton-wrapper way is not that bad.

Directions

-Microwave sweet potatoes for 7 minutes on each side until tender. Split them in half and scoop out potato pulp into a medium bowl.

-Mash up those amaretti cookies with a mortar and pestle in a small bowl.

-Add cookies, egg yolk, prosciutto, parmigiano-reggiano, parsley, a pinch of nutmeg, and salt to potatoes. Mix until combined. Set aside.

-Combine flour, eggs, and water to make pasta dough, kneading by hand for at least 8 minutes. Roll out to desired thinness. (If you are using a pasta-making machine like I did, thin out to a 5.) Cut dough into either 3-inch or 4-inch squares (depending on how big you want your ravioli to be).

-Place about 1 tablespoon of ravioli mixture in the center of each square. Layer another square on top. Pinch closed.

-Cook ravioli in boiling, salted water for 4 minutes.

-Drain, then toss with parmigiano-reggiano and butter, until butter is melted all over.

(Recipe adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan)