Avocado & Grapefruit Salad

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa

The peppery arugula and buttery avocado go well together, with an added tang from the sweet and sour grapefruit. Chilled lobster would be a good addition - a lot like the the lobster salad I had at The Parkview (at The Shilla) - obviously minus the lobster and for a significantly higher price (30,000 won+, per serving). Our salad serves 4 at a cost of... I doubt it cost more than $10... and it's exceptionally good, even without the lobster.

What you need

- 2 ripe Haas avocados

- 2 ripe grapefruit

- 2~3 cups loosely packed baby arugula, washed

- 1 lemon

- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

- 1 tsp kosher salt

- 3/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Prepare the dressing: Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon (catch the seeds). Combine with mustard, salt & pepper. Whisk in the olive oil.

2. Peel avocado and slice. Coat with half of the dressing to prevent avocado from browning.

3. Peel and cut grapefruit. Remove membranes and pith. Put in separate bowl. (You can keep 2 & 3 refrigerated until ready to serve.)

4. When ready to serve, spread the arugula on a serving plate. Circle the outside of the plate with the avocado. Add the grapefruit and the juice that collects at the bottom of the bowl (there will be a significant amount, so it's best if there is a little depth to your serving platter) to the center of the plate. Drizzle remaining dressing over the entire salad.

Artichoke & Bacon Pasta

Adapted from Food & Wine, March 2010

What you need (to serve 4 adults, generously):

- 1/2 Lb Thick cut bacon (Irish cut, I used Smoked Applewood Bacon; the original recipe calls for pancetta which was not available at Whole Foods that day); diced

- 1 jar grilled artichoke hearts (Can use plain artichoke hearts, canned or in a jar; the original recipe calls for 8 small artichokes to be cooked and peeled)

- 1 Lb pasta (I used spaghetti)

- 1 small onion, diced

- 2 Tbsp ground garlic (3~4 cloves)

- 1/2 C grated Parmigiano Reggiano

- Salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Heat 1 Tb olive oil in sautee pan (you don't need to be generous here - the bacon will give off enough fat - just enough to protect the onions and garlic from sticking to the pan initially). When heated, add onions, garlic, and bacon and sautee over medium heat until onions are softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Add artichokes (don't need to add the excess oil), lower the heat to medium-low and continue to stir, about 10 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember, the pasta will be salted as well!)

3. Meanwhile, boil a pot of water with 1 Tb of olive oil and a good sprinkling of kosher salt. When water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook as directed on the package. Reserve 2 ladles of pasta water.

4. In large bowl, combine pasta, reserved water, and artichoke/bacon mixture. Add 1/4 c grated cheese and serve the remaining 1/4 c on the side.

Cakepops - how to

Cakepops - original recipe from Bakerella, methods adapted slightly due to my refrigerator situation and current pantry supplies

What you need:

- Leftover cupcakes - in case you are not going to eat all 24 that come out of a cake mix box

- Leftover frosting. For 7 cupcakes, I used about 1/3 cup of buttercream frosting

- A large bowl

- A fork

- Lollipop sticks

- Chocolate candy melts/wafers

- Decorating supplies (like icing pens, sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc.)

1. Put a few leftover, cooled cupcakes into a large bowl. I started with 4 and actually wound up using 7 because I had some frosting (another ingredient) leftover.

2. Mash all the cupcakes into fine crumbs with a fork.

3. Add frosting and mix. I started with a fork and wound up using my hands in the end.

4. Mix well until the mixture is wet enough to form into balls without cracking/ falling apart (It should look like wet dirt). If it feels too dry, add another dollop of frosting and mix some more.

5. Form into balls. I used a mini ice cream scoop (maybe an inch in diameter) to scoop out the mixture and rolled it up with my hands. You don't need to place on wax paper unless you're not going to use the lollipop sticks.

6. Insert lollipop sticks and refrigerate for a couple of hours. You could put them in a freezer to save time - currently, my freezer has no space! I balanced them out using a plastic cup so they would stand without sticking to each other in the refrigerator. For the record, I got 17 cakepops from 7 cupcakes.

7. Melt chocolate wafers in the microwave - stirring every 30 seconds until melted thoroughly (I used about half a cup of wafers and zapped for 1.5 minutes in a pyrex measuring cup.) Dip the chilled cakes into the chocolate, let cool slightly (like 1 minute?) before adding the decorations (if you try to add the decorations too soon, it'll sink in and chocolate sprinkles will melt). Let cool - I suppose you could use the cup method again, but I have more space on my countertop so I stuck the lollipop sticks into a styrofoam block.

8. Devour!

Decorating cupcakes

I love eating cupcakes. And while my obsession is with the cake and buttercream frosting, other members of my family are more interested in the fondant decorations. Fondant forever seemed like the ultimate challenge - the stuff that brings Food Network Cake challenge contestants to their knees - but I gathered the courage to try it out and found it surprisingly, unchallenging!

First, I picked off a small chunk of rolled fondant and added a few drops of vanilla extract. Fondant is amazingly tasteless - I think next time I might try lemon or some other type of flavoring but for today, vanilla was in the cabinet.

I also added a teeny tiny bit of food coloring gel. By teeny tiny, I mean I dipped a toothpick into the gel, about a quarter of an inch, and wiped it onto the piece of fondant. I rolled it out with a rolling pin and used mini cookie cutters to cut out the shapes.

I also topped the cupcakes with fondant. I know Kara's uses buttercream frosting and tops it with just the decoration, as I did in the first picture. But a fondant cover also gives it a really clean line, plus I wanted to step up to the challenge. I think I did okay for my first try!

I just dabbed a little frosting onto the cupcake and covered it with fondant, smoothing out the ends and applying a little pressure around the edges so it would stick to the cupcake.

After another dab of frosting under the heart shaped fondant, you just stick it onto the center of the cupcake. Voila!

We tried different decorations. I don't know why blogger keeps turning my picture around vertically, but you can still tell the shapes...