pizza and champagne

food, travel, lifestyle

#TravelTBT: Aziz’s in Paris

I don’t know the exact moment it began, but at some point in my adolescent life I became completely, unapologetically (a little weirdly) obsessed with Paris. Posters. Calendars. Mini Eiffel Tower statues. Screensavers. Little odes to Paris all over my room. It could have partially been due to my friend’s and mine obsession with the movie Moulin Rouge. I’m not ashamed to admit that to this day we still know every single word to “Elephant Love Medley”. But for the longest time, I always thought of Paris as a fantasy vacation. A place that I would admire from afar until I became a celebrity and could buy an apartment there (I had very reasonable dreams as a teen). I know y’all were looking forward to following my career as a backup dancer…but looks like that wont be necessary after all. We were lucky enough to be able to take a trip to Paris this past Christmas break while visiting our parents in Germany. Now, there is absolutely no way to cover even a third of Paris in one post. That would take a few novels. So let’s hit the high points.

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Bestest Bruschetta

Does anyone love bruschetta as much as I do? I’m thinking about starting a support club, seriously.

My dad always made it when we would cook at home, and my obsession just escalated from there, especially when I visited Italy. Literally, give me all of the bruschetta. All of it.

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#TravelTBT: Munich Memories

If you know me, or read our first post, you know I’m in denial I’m turning 25 this year. Why? I don’t know. It’s just a freaky age, okay? I think it means I have to stop eating goldfish and chicken strips or something. To ease the pain of turning 25, I’m hoping to spend it at Oktoberfest in Munich, which starts a couple days after my birthday. That’s an adult thing to do, right..? So, I’m starting to plan the trip, which made me want to reminisce on our trip to Munich earlier this year. It’s an awesome place.

Lexi and I went with our parents for a long weekend in January, and we drove there from my parents’ place in Frankfurt (that’s still weird to say). Munich is in Bavaria (Bayern) and what you picture typical Germany to look like. Beautiful old buildings and lots and lots of beer.

Beers LITERally as big as your head

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Red Carpet Recipes

I have this problem where I revolve a good portion of my life around pop culture and the entertainment world.  I see any awards show, reality TV show reunion, series finale, or season premier as an excuse to throw a party. And by “party” I mean I make a whole bunch of food and share a bottle of wine with my friends. Wait, no, we each get our own bottle.  So it’s no surprise I’ve been anxiously awaiting The Oscars this weekend. I even penciled it into my agenda. Apparently people use agendas to keep track of homework, and meetings, and stuff…pshyt, gotta remember the biggest awards show of the season. Now, the trick is to have recipes that are quick, simple, and easy to share. It would be a total tragedy if you were busy in the kitchen and missed Jennifer Lawrence trip up the stairs again. But that doesn’t mean you have to pop some frozen pizza rolls in the oven (nothing against pizza rolls, of course). These recipes are as elegant as The Oscars, and surprisingly easy. Perfect for impressing your friends without breakin a sweat. I would suggest preparing the cake balls the day before or the morning of since they’re a little more time consuming, but everything else can be thrown together in about an hour. You’ll have plenty of time to whip up this delish food, pop the bubbly, (maybe even clean the kitchen), and make your bets on who will win Best Picture before the first star hits the red carpet.

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Bubbly Focaccia, Two Ways

Is there anything better than the smell and taste of fresh, homemade bread? I’m convinced there’s not. And just to make sure I was right, I baked two focaccia loaves yesterday in the name of science and taste-testing and stuff.

I’m still right.

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#TravelTBT: Barcelona Bouncing, pt. 2

Let’s continue our Barcelona talk. It’s one of my absolute favorite cities ever – probably top 3. I visited once when I was studying abroad in 2011, and Lexi and I went again last summer, and I’m completely in love with it. For those who’ve never been, it’s kind of like the LA of Spain: laid-back lifestyle, beautiful weather and beaches, phenomenal food scene, and it’s just full of really cool people you wish you were like. It’s also like the Texas of Spain in the sense that the region it’s in, Catalonia, wants to basically secede from the rest of the country. Just FYI, the majority of people in Barca speak Catalan, not Spanish. They will also be highly offended if you and your sister wear Spain futbol scarves to watch the Spain v. Brazil Confederation Cup Final and will shame you into taking the scarves off.

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THE Chocolate Chip Cookie

Edited: August 2015

We know. There are about 1,359,575 chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. And they all claim to be the best. But these, these…are nearly perfect. They have that wonderful balance of chewy and crispy, salty and sweet. Every time we make them, people ooh and ahh and rave and swoon (not to toot our own horn). Some people have called them “chocolate chips with some cookie” because they’re chock-full of chocolate. 
 
That’s probably because they have two bags of chocolate chips in them…  ChocChipCookies-2
Granted, it’s not that hard to mess up a chocolate chip cookie, but it’s also not so easy to get it just right. This recipe makes about five dozen cookies. That’s 60 cookies. Enough to feed an army, or yourself after a long day at work. Sounds like a lot, but I promise you’ll want to make ’em all, then eat ’em all.
ChocChipCookies-6 
Since originally posting this, we’ve continued to make them without changes, because they’re that good. The only adjustment we’ll make some of the time is sprinkling a few flakes of Maldon sea salt on the cookies before baking, because there’s really nothing better than salty + sweet.
ChocChipCookies-4
ChocChipCookies-3 
We also use this base recipe to make different kinds of cookies, like these double white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. They’re also killer, because chocolate. 
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
These chocolate chip cookies are the ultimate decadent treat - loaded with chocolate chips and special ingredient (vanilla pudding mix) makes these classic treats extra flavorful.
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
  2. 1 tsp. baking soda
  3. 1 tsp. salt
  4. 1 packet instant vanilla pudding
  5. 1 C butter, softened*
  6. 1 C brown sugar
  7. 1/2 C white sugar
  8. 3 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  9. 2 eggs
  10. 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
  11. 1 bag dark chocolate chips
  12. Maldon sea salt, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla pudding packet.
  3. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy (either with a stand mixer or hand-held mixer).
  4. Add in vanilla extract and beat until combined.
  5. Add in eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined.
  6. Slowly add in dry ingredients (I do this in about 1/3rds)
  7. Stir in chocolate chips.
  8. On a nonstick baking sheet (or stone), scoop about a tablespoon of dough per cookie. If using the sea salt, sprinkle a few flakes on top of each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating halfway through, until cookies are golden brown.
  9. Cool, and serve!
Notes
  1. *It's better if the butter is softened on the counter top, not melted, to use. Melting the butter will result in flattened cookies (but they'll still taste delicious)
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Gruyere and Tomato Tartlets

I’ve become obsessed with puff pastry. It’s something that you can transform into a variety of things, and not to mention, the flaky, buttery crust. I’ve made a few things with it, but so far, this is one of my favorites.

It also may be one of my favorite because gruyere is involved. Where there is gruyere, there is greatness. It can be one of the more expensive cheeses, but it’s so worth it. You could definitely substitute parmigiano-reggiano or something of that sort, but gruyere is where it’s at, y’all.

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#TravelTBT: Barcelona Bouncing

Let me start this off by saying (anyone who knows me, knows this): I HATE THE COLD. Like, LOATHE. As in, it affects my mood to the point where I diagnose myself with seasonal depression every winter. A little dramatic? Maybe. But I have found a way to temporarily cure my winter blues… by reminiscing on the beaches we’ve traveled to and the warm memories of summer.  At the end of my two months studying abroad in Sevilla, Kelsie hopped over to meet me so we could travel for a couple weeks together. Our first destination was Barcelona, which is on the northeast coast of Spain. We were head over heels in love with the city in about 12 hours. There’s so much to do we couldn’t even begin to cover it all in a week, but here are a few of my favorite places we spent our days/nights/nights that turned into mornings.
Barceloneta Beach

La Sagrada Familia:One word to describe La Sagrada Familia is without a doubt: breathtaking. The Roman Catholic Church was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, and has been under construction for almost 200 years. Trust me, there’s a reason this thing is taking so long. It’s unbelievable how detailed every inch of the church is, considering I cant even make an adequate sand castle. You could spend hours just walking around the outside and following the story of Christ which is sculpted into the exterior stone walls. Inside, light coming through the stained glass windows paints the huge white columns and vaulted ceiling with bright blues, greens, and reds. La Sagrada Familia is a-ma-zing, and definitely well worth the entrance fee and long, hot wait in line. There’s also a Metro stop right in front of it, so getting there is really easy.

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