I was spurred to write this post by two things (the usual two): a big life change and a recipe I just had to share.
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Friday, 3 November 2017
A Life in Seasons (Real Ones!) and Apple Cider Caramels
Pin It
I was spurred to write this post by two things (the usual two): a big life change and a recipe I just had to share.
I was spurred to write this post by two things (the usual two): a big life change and a recipe I just had to share.
Wednesday, 3 August 2016
My Bologna Has a First Name – Learning to Make Pasta the Bolognese Way with Taste of Italy
Pin It
Holy crap – it’s been a YEAR since I posted here. I am so ashamed. To be fair, the past year has been the busiest of my life so far: I started teaching middle school, jumping right in at the deep end with no previous full-time experience, and I was (as you’d probably have guessed) completely consumed. Any time I had to myself was spent grading, answering parent and student emails, lesson planning, or maybe, if I got really lucky, zoning out in front of a crappy TV show with a bottle of wine and my concerned boyfriend. Needless to say, I didn’t cook much, let alone photograph it. Which is too bad, really, since my apartment was super cute and photogenic, and living off Goldfish all year left me unhealthy and heavier than usual by June…
Anyway, excuses aside, I come back now to share just a smidgen of the bounty from my much-needed summer vacation! My boyfriend and I saved up a few thousand dollars, freed ourselves from our responsibilities, and set off for Europe the week after school let out – we went to Berlin for a week, then took trains through Austria and all down through Italy, ending in Sicily, and then we hopped over to France for a few weeks to help a friend with her new baby. It was a pretty epic 7.5-week journey (all of which is documented on my Instagram feed), and while we didn’t cook often, what we did cook was as epic as the trip itself.
Holy crap – it’s been a YEAR since I posted here. I am so ashamed. To be fair, the past year has been the busiest of my life so far: I started teaching middle school, jumping right in at the deep end with no previous full-time experience, and I was (as you’d probably have guessed) completely consumed. Any time I had to myself was spent grading, answering parent and student emails, lesson planning, or maybe, if I got really lucky, zoning out in front of a crappy TV show with a bottle of wine and my concerned boyfriend. Needless to say, I didn’t cook much, let alone photograph it. Which is too bad, really, since my apartment was super cute and photogenic, and living off Goldfish all year left me unhealthy and heavier than usual by June…
Anyway, excuses aside, I come back now to share just a smidgen of the bounty from my much-needed summer vacation! My boyfriend and I saved up a few thousand dollars, freed ourselves from our responsibilities, and set off for Europe the week after school let out – we went to Berlin for a week, then took trains through Austria and all down through Italy, ending in Sicily, and then we hopped over to France for a few weeks to help a friend with her new baby. It was a pretty epic 7.5-week journey (all of which is documented on my Instagram feed), and while we didn’t cook often, what we did cook was as epic as the trip itself.
Monday, 3 August 2015
Cocktails or Cake – Why Not Both? Limoncello Birthday Cake with Campari Frosting
Pin It
Remember when I made that adorable ha-cake for my friend's half birthday? Well, luckily for me, despite generally preferring savory to sweet, K does love a good celebration cake, so when her full birthday rolled around this year she requested a cake that incorporated one of her favorite things: booze. Specifically, Campari, which she fell in love with during a trip to Italy a couple years ago and which has been so well-loved as to have spawned its own hashtag.
Even better than suggesting (I won't go so far as to say demanding) a specific cake for her birthday, K suggested we bake it together, at my parents' house in the Napa Valley. K is a food blogger too, although she focuses more on savory dishes and wine pairings, and while we've cooked together (we lived together for a while and we made some delicious dinners) we've never baked. Plus, since she moved to Napa last year we get far too little bonding time, and this sounded like an excellent way to get some 'us' time (plus our assistant, but he's good at respecting our girl time).
So without further ado, to the cake-baking! Of course, we started with booze: Negronis (a classic Campari drink), natch, mixed by our handsome assistant (to whom also goes credit for all the photos herein and on Flickr).
Remember when I made that adorable ha-cake for my friend's half birthday? Well, luckily for me, despite generally preferring savory to sweet, K does love a good celebration cake, so when her full birthday rolled around this year she requested a cake that incorporated one of her favorite things: booze. Specifically, Campari, which she fell in love with during a trip to Italy a couple years ago and which has been so well-loved as to have spawned its own hashtag.
Even better than suggesting (I won't go so far as to say demanding) a specific cake for her birthday, K suggested we bake it together, at my parents' house in the Napa Valley. K is a food blogger too, although she focuses more on savory dishes and wine pairings, and while we've cooked together (we lived together for a while and we made some delicious dinners) we've never baked. Plus, since she moved to Napa last year we get far too little bonding time, and this sounded like an excellent way to get some 'us' time (plus our assistant, but he's good at respecting our girl time).
So without further ado, to the cake-baking! Of course, we started with booze: Negronis (a classic Campari drink), natch, mixed by our handsome assistant (to whom also goes credit for all the photos herein and on Flickr).
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Any Excuse for a Celebration: Half Birthdays and Ha-Cakes
Pin It
It’s holiday time in the blogosphere – everywhere I look I see recipes for Christmas cookies or Hanukkah cakes or generalized ‘winter holidays’-themed party food. But I think you’re all forgetting the most important holiday of the year: my friend K’s half-birthday.
It’s holiday time in the blogosphere – everywhere I look I see recipes for Christmas cookies or Hanukkah cakes or generalized ‘winter holidays’-themed party food. But I think you’re all forgetting the most important holiday of the year: my friend K’s half-birthday.
Yes,
I said half-birthday. I can’t tell you
how many people have balked when I tell them I’m planning to make a half-cake
for K. “Half-birthday?” they ask,
incredulous, “isn’t that just for kids?”
Well, yes. It is. But one of the things I love about K is that
she is pretty much the definition of unabashed.
She wants to celebrate her half-birthday with a few friends, some tasty
food, and a ha-cake (as in hapenny, jeez), and honestly I don’t see any problem with that. It is a bit strange for a grown woman to
count her age in halves, to be sure, but on the other hand, couldn’t we all use
a little more whimsy and celebration in our lives? I know I could.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Beauty Comes from Within: Sexy-Ugly Hedgehog Cookies
Pin It
One of the BF's favorite kind of cookies is oatmeal chocolate chip, for which he'll hardly get a raised eyebrow from me: the toothsomeness of an oatmeal cookies with the sweetness of chocolate? Obviously. I myself am a fan of the good old oatmeal raisin as well, but the more people I poll, the more I feel like this cookie has unfairly fallen out of favor. Alas, poor oatmeal raisin... well, more for me!
Anyway, when I went to visit the BF in Boston a few weekends ago, I planned on bringing him some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but for some reason (I guess because, really, I wanted to eat them), I went with my gram's chocolate chip shortbread cookies instead. He was never any the wiser, and those cookies are the bomb, so I didn't feel too guilty. I did, however, find myself craving them the following week (I suppose the idea had planted and refused to let go!), and as I was going to have some girlfriends over for dinner – and needed to make some cookies to mail to a friend for his birthday – I had an excuse to make them.
One of the BF's favorite kind of cookies is oatmeal chocolate chip, for which he'll hardly get a raised eyebrow from me: the toothsomeness of an oatmeal cookies with the sweetness of chocolate? Obviously. I myself am a fan of the good old oatmeal raisin as well, but the more people I poll, the more I feel like this cookie has unfairly fallen out of favor. Alas, poor oatmeal raisin... well, more for me!
Anyway, when I went to visit the BF in Boston a few weekends ago, I planned on bringing him some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but for some reason (I guess because, really, I wanted to eat them), I went with my gram's chocolate chip shortbread cookies instead. He was never any the wiser, and those cookies are the bomb, so I didn't feel too guilty. I did, however, find myself craving them the following week (I suppose the idea had planted and refused to let go!), and as I was going to have some girlfriends over for dinner – and needed to make some cookies to mail to a friend for his birthday – I had an excuse to make them.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
A Tart and Tasty Birthday Treat: Lemon Cream Cupcakes
Pin It
It was my mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and since I was in town for it for once (had you guessed that the past 6 weeks of radio silence had something to do with me reveling in the delights of the Great Bay Area?), I wanted to make her a little treat. Of course, my mom being the healthy lady that she is, I knew nothing rich or heavy would be up her alley, which made for a slightly tricky situation when, without thinking, I suggested that my nephew and I should make and decorate cupcakes together... My mom is so not into buttercream, or cake, really – she prefers fruit tarts and crisps and maybe the odd cookie (just one).
Still, I figured there was one way I could still have bonding time with my nephew (who's nearly 7, and a boy, and not so into grown-up baking like tarts) and serve my mom a dessert for her birthday that she'd actually enjoy: when in doubt, make it citrus. My mom, like me, loves anything lemon. And when I found a recipe, it came with an accompanying recipe for a whipped-cream-based frosting, which I figured would be much lighter than a buttercream, not to mention easier.
It was my mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and since I was in town for it for once (had you guessed that the past 6 weeks of radio silence had something to do with me reveling in the delights of the Great Bay Area?), I wanted to make her a little treat. Of course, my mom being the healthy lady that she is, I knew nothing rich or heavy would be up her alley, which made for a slightly tricky situation when, without thinking, I suggested that my nephew and I should make and decorate cupcakes together... My mom is so not into buttercream, or cake, really – she prefers fruit tarts and crisps and maybe the odd cookie (just one).
Still, I figured there was one way I could still have bonding time with my nephew (who's nearly 7, and a boy, and not so into grown-up baking like tarts) and serve my mom a dessert for her birthday that she'd actually enjoy: when in doubt, make it citrus. My mom, like me, loves anything lemon. And when I found a recipe, it came with an accompanying recipe for a whipped-cream-based frosting, which I figured would be much lighter than a buttercream, not to mention easier.
Monday, 21 February 2011
A healthier comfort food: Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Bread from Joy the Baker
Pin It
I can't even go there with you on how bad these pictures are. All I can do is apologize for baking this bread at night, and then promptly consuming (with the bf's help, of course) the entire loaf before having a chance to photograph a slice in daylight.
I'm so ashamed.
I can't even go there with you on how bad these pictures are. All I can do is apologize for baking this bread at night, and then promptly consuming (with the bf's help, of course) the entire loaf before having a chance to photograph a slice in daylight.
I'm so ashamed.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Forced to bake with buttermilk!
Pin It
Sometimes, at our lovely new(ish) flat, we like to host dinner parties. And sometimes those dinner parties become a bigger production than is absolutely necessary.
Sometimes, at our lovely new(ish) flat, we like to host dinner parties. And sometimes those dinner parties become a bigger production than is absolutely necessary.
Friday, 29 October 2010
One thing United Airlines does right: Carrot Cake!
Pin It
Carrot cake is a wonder of science.
You start with something relatively healthy: of the earth, raw, vegan, gluten-free, all that jazz.
And then you spend a few minutes imagining the worst men you've ever known and thanking your lucky stars your poor lovely bf isn't home...
You start with something relatively healthy: of the earth, raw, vegan, gluten-free, all that jazz.
And then you spend a few minutes imagining the worst men you've ever known and thanking your lucky stars your poor lovely bf isn't home...
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
This should be illegal...
Pin It
Seriously? This is just wrong.
See, what we're talking about here are cookies. That taste like brownies. But with chewy edges and cakey centers. And this is the really naughty bit: they're cookies, so they're really easy (like, wayyyy too easy) to just pick up and pop in your mouth.
This is some dangerous genius we're dealing with here, folks.
See, what we're talking about here are cookies. That taste like brownies. But with chewy edges and cakey centers. And this is the really naughty bit: they're cookies, so they're really easy (like, wayyyy too easy) to just pick up and pop in your mouth.
This is some dangerous genius we're dealing with here, folks.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Fall is in the air!
Pin It
Well... inasmuch as Fall can ever be in the air in a city where the default weather setting is grey...
But yes, the air has crisped, the trees are already turning brown and baring their branches, and school is starting up again. And you know what that means: baking for an audience again! Oh, and pumpkin. Definitely, definitely pumpkin.
Specifically, pumpkin pie bars, the answer to the age-old question: how can I take my pumpkin pie with me on the go? Because don't we all need a little pie-to-go in this rushing about, bustling, high-energy world (or at least city)? Yes. Yes we do.
But yes, the air has crisped, the trees are already turning brown and baring their branches, and school is starting up again. And you know what that means: baking for an audience again! Oh, and pumpkin. Definitely, definitely pumpkin.
Specifically, pumpkin pie bars, the answer to the age-old question: how can I take my pumpkin pie with me on the go? Because don't we all need a little pie-to-go in this rushing about, bustling, high-energy world (or at least city)? Yes. Yes we do.
Monday, 20 September 2010
More my thing: easy 'donut' muffins
Pin It
After last week's challah trials (and tribulations), I needed a pick me up. Something easy. Something delicious. A guaranteed success. Enter: the donut muffin.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Consider my heart duly touched– Dim Sum in the 'dam!
Pin It
Sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
Like when the bf whisks me off to Amsterdam for a weekend of charming canal walks and delicious ice cream. Or when we arrive, having checked the weather and prepared for rain, and instead we're greeted with cool breezes and warm sunshine and fluffy white clouds. Or when, as a thank-you, I book us in for a cooking class at a place I've never heard of, which just happens to be the only class I can find where the timing fits, and we end up cooking dim sum for 4 hours (and staying to eat and chat for another 1.5) in a gorgeous studio with a raucous, international crowd of students and a fabulous, young, Socratic teacher named Fong.
Luckiest girl in the world. For serious.
Sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
Like when the bf whisks me off to Amsterdam for a weekend of charming canal walks and delicious ice cream. Or when we arrive, having checked the weather and prepared for rain, and instead we're greeted with cool breezes and warm sunshine and fluffy white clouds. Or when, as a thank-you, I book us in for a cooking class at a place I've never heard of, which just happens to be the only class I can find where the timing fits, and we end up cooking dim sum for 4 hours (and staying to eat and chat for another 1.5) in a gorgeous studio with a raucous, international crowd of students and a fabulous, young, Socratic teacher named Fong.
Luckiest girl in the world. For serious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)