Food: Fig and Prosciutto Pizzas

This weekend I wandered into Whole Foods after my Sunday morning swim, just for some parsley as part of Sunday night's dinner.  And the first thing I saw when I walked into the store was a beautiful display of figs, on sale for 2 for $6.  I have had figs exactly twice in my entire life -- literally.  Once at a wedding and once when I was out to dinner with friends (and it was a fig spread for bread).  It was very coincidental that the figs would be front and center, because on Friday, I had saved the name of a fig dish: Fig and prosciutto pizzas with brie and thyme.

So after some waffling, I went back and picked up a small basket of figs (I think these are black figs, but I don't know).

I settled on figs with prosciutto and mozzarella, plus some thyme.  Instead of laboring with pizza dough, I used some pre-made flatbreads that we already had at home.  They are some "artisanal" cracker-like things that we used to spread cheese dip on, and I figured they'd be a decent substitute.

So it was crackers/flatbread + sliced figs + mozzarella + prosciutto + thyme.  So good!

Oh, and I burnt the first batch, too - whoops!

Fig & Prosciutto "Pizzas"

3 pre-made flatbreads/crackers

1 tbsp olive oil

4 figs

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

3 slices prosciutto

Fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 450 F degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place flatbreads on it.  Brush each flatbread with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.  Slice figs and distribute evenly over flatbreads.  Sprinkle cheese on flatbreads.  Rip up prosciutto into rough pieces and place on top of cheese.  Bake in the oven and start checking them around 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes.  Sprinkle with fresh thyme.

Travel: Hitting Gold!

This e-mail pretty much made my Sunday.  After a year of hanging out in Silver status, I finally hit Gold Medallion status with Delta.  Don't get me wrong - Silver was nice, and when I don't have a travel-for-work job, I am definitely going to hate boarding in Zone 2 (formerly Zone 3) and later - but I have been waiting all year to finally make the jump from Silver to Gold.

Delta awards Silver Medallion when you've flown either 25,000 (qualifying) miles or 30 flight segments, whichever comes first.  Last year, I hit Silver based on segments - I was flying between Ohio, Maryland, and New York very regularly, and I tried to take Delta as often as possible.  This year, I had quite a number of weeks where I didn't travel, but once we moved to the West Coast and I was still travelling back to the East Coast/Midwest, I started accumulating miles like crazy (about 3,000 qualifying miles per flight) and finally hit Gold on miles (50,000).

Now on to Platinum!

OOTD: 22 August 2012

This dress is a number of years old, from the Banana Republic Factory store.  I'm not sure if it's a knock-off of a retail version, or if it was a Factory-only item.  (Sidenote: I've always loved Gap and Banana Republic Factory stores.  I typically find a ton of things there that I love!)  It's a silk dress with the white butterfly pattern at the bottom (as you can see :)), and it has an empire waist with some pleating at the waist.  The top is a V-neck, but I'm wearing a black cami underneath because it's a little too low cut for work for me.

I wish I had taken a picture of the back, which is very pretty.  It zips up to the top of the empire waistband, then is unfastened (but still covers the whole back) and buttons at the neck with two small fabric-covered buttons.  Very pretty!  I haven't worn this dress in a couple of years because the last time I wore it was to my grandmother's funeral. :(  I rediscovered it in my closet and figured it was time to bring it back into rotation.

OOTD: 29 August 2012

I've worn this shirt before with a navy pencil skirt.  Last week I had a couple of other pencil skirt looks, so I paired it with black pants.  It's such a fun shirt - although it is a little short, and I wish it were just a bit longer - and I think it transitions easily from work (depending on where you work) to after work.  I met up with a friend for dinner in the evening and was going to change into something else, but I figured this top was casual enough.

I am not a big risk-taker style-wise, so I thought it was best to wear the top with something basic and neutral, although I am itching to try it with a bright yellow skirt!  You cannot see the shoes, but they are a pair of black pointy toe d'orsay pumps from Anne Klein.  They are very comfortable and the heel high is good (not too high, not too low), and they are my favorite pumps of the moment...until the lifts get smashed in or the toes fall apart.

Food: My favorite chocolate chip cookies

One of my favorite memories is making chocolate chip cookies with my mom.  Growing up, we really only made them for special occasions - mostly the big three holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) - and sometimes for bake sales and whatnot at school.  My mom's recipe came from the Betty Crocker cookbook, and used shortening (Crisco) instead of butter, so for most of my life, I only knew shortening-based chocolate chip cookies.  Sometimes I would eat chocolate chip cookies from other kids, and I couldn't figure out what was different (hint: it was the butter!).

A number of years ago, I picked up a Holiday Cookies magazine from Martha Stewart, and inside was my soon-to-be favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  The magazine had recipes for three types of chocolate chip cookies - cakey, thick and chewy, and thin and crispy.  I can't recall now if I've made all three versions, but the thick and chewy is my favorite, and it's the recipe I always turn to when I make chocolate chip cookies (sorry, Mom!).

So this weekend, I went swimming.  A lot.  I mistakenly thought the pool was closed on Labor Day, so to overcompensate for no swimming on Monday (and I skipped Friday just because I felt like it), I swam 100 laps on Sunday.  That's 3,000 yards if you're keeping track at home.  And I actually swam another 5 laps to make it a full 3 miles + 1 fast lap, which is how I always end a swim.  But 100 laps sounds better.  Around lap 40 or so, I got a craving for chocolate chip cookies.  So after the swim, I hit up the grocery store for all of the necessary ingredients.

Since we moved, our shelves haven't been stocked with many "basics", if you will.  We were trying to keep down the clutter, and in NYC, we didn't really have room for a well-stocked baking pantry.  But here we do!

The "secret" ingredient that really makes these cookies is coarse sea salt.  I don't know what it is, but sometimes when you bite into the cookie, you will get a hint of salt.  Combined with the chewy butter and sugar and then the chocolate - it's so good!  For extra fun, I sprinkled the cookie dough with some granulated sugar before they went into the oven.  I won't even tell you how many I've already had between last night and today. :)

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp coarse sea salt
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips (Martha recommends semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or a mix)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.  Cream together the butter and sugars.  Add the salt, vanilla, and eggs.  Stir in the flour mixture.  Add chocolate chips.  Bake for 10-12 minutes per cookie sheet.  Let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a wire rack to cool.

Martha says: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container between sheets of parchment for up to one week.  [I say: Or piled lazily in a Ziploc container loosely covered with plastic wrap because they aren't going to last for a week!]

My changes: I add a little more salt and a little more vanilla than the recipe calls for.  I used the Ghirardelli bittersweet (60% cacao) chips this time and they came out great, but I typically use less than the recipe calls for (1 1/2 cup to 1 2/3 cup) because I prefer my cookies with less chocolate chips in them.