Don't judge me on the randomness of this post!

Some recipes from this week:

Giada's mini turkey meatballs - Not so new as I've made them before, but they're my favorite!!  Plus, I usually keep all of the ingredients in my apartment so it's a go-to!

Gina's Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip - For those on Weight Watchers - this is great!! Only 2.75 points!  It's all low fat or fat free ingredients and quite tasty.  I made this for book club and everyone loved it.  Erin has made this recipe tons of times for parties.  It's quick and easy, and after looking at Gina's blog, I'm kind of obsessed.  Check out her remake recipes at skinnytaste.com.

and I tried another one of Ina Garten's recipes from her Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? Cookbook.  Her recipe is great, however, I didn't put large enough eggs in so my cupcakes were a tad bit dry.  The frosting however was phenomenal and perfect!
Red Velvet Cupcakes

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 extra large eggs, at room temperature 
• Red Velvet Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter ad sugar on meium speed for 1 minute, until light.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients alternately in 3 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mix until combined.  Stir with a rubber spatula to be sure the batter is mixed.

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups with a 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop or large spoon.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.  Cool completely in the pans and frost the cupcakes with Red Velvet Frosting.

Red Velvet Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (3/4 pound)

Place the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed just until combined.  Don't whip!  Add the sugar and mix until smooth.  

On the menu for this upcoming week:
Taco Night with Biz - let us know if you care to join on Monday!
and Banana Bread.
Also, I'm taking a pasta making class on Saturday at Cooking Fools in Wicker Park!  Can't wait to learn how to make homemade pasta!

Restaurant News:
I got a chance to meet up with my old recruiter, Rhine and we tried a new restaurant. We tried Bull eh Dias! on Southport and Waveland which officially completes my 2010 goal (a month late...oops).  It's a tapas place, but I was incredibly disappointed in their food.  If you're looking for a great tapas place in Chicago, try Twist (my fav) on Roscoe and Sheffield or Cafe Ba Ba Reeba on Halsted.

Kevin and I finally went on a date on Friday.  It's been awhile so I'm glad we went even though he worked 23 hours straight before dinner.  We ate at Nick's Fish Market in the Merchandise Mart.  They had a great selection of seafood.  For starters, Kevin tried the lobster bisque which I don't remember his thoughts on it.  Kev, can you comment?  I had the caesar salad which was fantastic.  Then for entrees, Kevin had crusted medallions (so not exactly seafood at a Fish place, but I know he liked those!), and I had Mushroom, Feta and Spinach stuffed tilapia.  I definitely need to try to remake that!  It's probably easy enough!  The dinner was great and the molten chocolate cake topped with white chocolate ice-cream was an excellent finish to the meal.