In the Night Kitchen

Visit to Harvard Common Press

2011-12-18T14:54:00.001Z

Last Sunday the Boston Brunchers went on an educational excursion to Harvard Common Press. Somebody (yes, me) showed up 30 minutes early be because she forgot to read her email.... So I ended up checking out the SoWa vintage market, a gallery of strange Japanese-inspired pottery, and the SoWa market, where I bought some Swiss chard and ricotta ravioli that I am dying to still try... They are in my freezer, and last week was so busy that I can't remember if I even made dinner at home at all.[Yep, by the time I'd updated this post, I can tell you they were delicious.]

I also apologize for not having any photos of this event. I get distracted when everyone is taking pictures and think, ok, someone got a picture of that, surely I don't need to also. Oops.

When we came in to HCP's offices, they had two bowls of punch (red and green, how festive) and coffee set up. Adam and Bruce took people around the offices and let us explore. They are in an old piano factory and have wonderful woven rugs from Oaxaca on the floors (so female employees in heels won't slip on the wood). Bruce also started collecting art from Mexico, included super cool wood cared sculptures.

The staff had made breakfast for us, a spinach and cheese strata, raspberry cream cheese coffeecake, and several other goodies, and we were able to sit in bruce's wife's sunny art studio next door to eat, drink wine from Richard at the Passionate Foodie, and listen to a great presentation about bloggers and the cookbook process.

It takes an unbelievable amount of time to get from blog posts to books on shelves and virtual shelves, what a dedication! Also, bloggers have to have at least 75% new recipes for books. Definitely not in my future! (see also, forgot to take any pictures.)

HCP was also amazing and left cookbooks as centerpieces for us to each take. I snuck away with a huuuuuge tome on pies! (Pies! We all know I love pie.) and the Baker's Field Guide. Most of us also snagged a galley copy of herbivoracious, which I am so excited to use. The only downside is, the photography from that book sounds awesome - it's all photos taken by the blog-author and it's all of vegetables!

Renee did a fantastic job organizing this one!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Temple Bar with Boston Brunchers

2011-12-12T02:51:00.002Z

Yesterday I had the opportunity to head to Temple Bar for brunch with the Boston Brunchers.
I was pretty happy to have an event on this side of the river (especially because the t isn't running to my neighborhood) and it was a short shuttle bus ride away.

Temple Bar gets an A++ for service and hospitality. Their bartender mixed a special cocktail for us brunchers and the wait staff was really attentive.

They were also totally open to making substitutions to the menu for the pescatarians at the table.

We started out with coffee and pastries - banana bread and chocolate muffins, arranged very geometrically.

I ordered the citrus and fennel gravlax. Unfortunately, as a non-meat eater, the brunch menu was pretty limited for me. My other option was the mascarpone stuffed French toast (I had a taste and it was yummy) but I'm really glad I didn't order it... You'll find out why in a minute. The waiter also was quick to offer a substitution of smoked salmon on the eggs Benedict for one of the other gIrls at the table. I think my brunch may have had the most photos taken of it, the presentation was quite colorful. Also, the salmon had a really great flavor, not overly fishy as some smoked salmon is and nice subtle citrus.

Then, the waiters brought out 4 different desserts for us to try. (I only got a photo of the cranberry cake, the restaurant was dark, which had several of us using the flashlight apps on our phones to light photographs.) We also had pumpkin mousse, caramel creme brûlée seasoned with cardamom, and my favorite, chocolate bread pudding with caramel sauce.... Yum. Yum.

After brunch, several of us walked to Harvard Square to check out the craft fair and independent designers market.

All in all, a great way to start Saturday - and I went for a run beforehand! I'd definitely head back to Temple Bar, but probably not for brunch, just because options for me are too limited. The service was amazing though, and who am I kidding, I've been there for drinks before!

And yes, brunch was free to us, but my opinions are my own.

Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cake

2011-10-30T18:24:00.004Z

So the theme of recent posts is apparently being hungover and making bad decisions? Last Sunday, after a night out with rowers, I woke up and thought I needed to bake a cake. My brother and his friend had stayed with me Saturday night so while we were all waking up and drinking our coffee I reasoned that I needed to bake a cake because Halloween was Monday and I could bring the cake to my parents' house during trick or treating. Uhm, nope, Halloween is tomorrow and last week I was out of town for two days for work. Whoops.

I made half a dozen cupcakes and two layers of cake and sent the cupcakes back on the road with Alex and his friend. The recipe was a pumpkin spice cake that i came across on Bon Appetit's site. It has a lot of spices and orange rind for flavoring. I halved the oil and replaced the rest with applesauce to make it "slightly healthier". Once the cakes were cool, I wrapped them and stuck them in the freezer.

Friday night I took the cakes out to defrost, and Saturday got down with the powdered sugar and made a cream cheese frosting. It's orange so I could decorate the cake like a jack o lantern (I got chocolate jimmies to decorate with). I got out a piping bag and tips to decorate, but I guess I haven't done this in a while, because for some reason I put the tip outside instead of inside the bag to pipe, yeah oops. Minus all of the disasters here, the cake turned out awesome. Really moist and flavorful, good texture, and the creamcheese frosting, with a little rum for flavoring was a great complement.

We had a Halloween party and people came out despite the snow to drink and eat cake. My favorite costume modification was when Joanna was turned into a tipsy cupcake. My hpv vaccine/zombie Michelle Bachman plan was scrapped because I was a little under the weather and didn't feel like putting on zombie makeup, so that kind of sucked (I still managed to stay up till 3 though?).

Island Creek Oyster Bar with the Boston Brunchers

2011-10-30T18:09:00.003Z

I usually blog about food that I make, so reviewing meals is new to me. Here goes.....

I've been pretty active on twitter since moving back to Boston (this also coincides with getting a smartphone) and am following Renee and some of the other Boston Brunchers. When I saw that (1) the anniversary brunch was at Island Creek Oyster Bar (and I follow them on twitter too...) and that (2) Renee was giving away some tickets to non-brunchers I was psyched. Definitely a challenge to myself to win one - and I did, from Sue at Public Radio Kitchen, who I ended up sitting with during brunch in fact (but I was a little hungover and it took us a while to put this together).

We had gone to Somerville Local First's Harvestfest the night before, so I was desperately in need of some coffee when we showed up. Fun fact: Island Creek brews coffee from Jim's Organic Coffee. I met their New England sales rep the following weekend at Head of the Charles, and Mike was awesome enough to give me a bag of coffee to try. They are a local, green company so it's cool to see restaurants using quality local products!

It was great to eat with other local bloggers too (Eating Places, The Economical Eater, Doves and Figs, The Passionate Foodie, and Baking Me Hungry).

First up, we ordered drinks. I went for the bloody mary, sort of a hair of the dog thing. It was definitely good and with the spiciness helped bring me out of my fog.

We also had an amazing pastry basket in front of us. I could have eaten them all, but went for the sticky bun. It was not too sweet which was wonderful, and had good texture, not like a sticky ball of dough at all.

There were 4 choices for brunch, but our table went with either the lobster roll or the french toast with sautéed apples. I went with the lobster roll to get the savory after the pastry basket, but the French toast looked and smelled amazing.

The lobster roll was awesome. It's always a good problem when you can't determine the best way to eat something. I did the slice in half and eat with hands. The rosemary bun on this lobster roll is not to be missed.

The other fantastic part of brunch was our ridiculous goodie bags from the brunch sponsors (below). Renee did a fabulous job getting sponsors, and my mom and husband were super impressed with what I brought home.

America's Test Kitchen
Barefoot Wine
Biba
Biltmore Bar and Grill
Boston Ballet
Boston Center for Adult Education
Boston Food Finds
Cow and Crumb
Cumberland Farms
Dorado Tacos & Cemitas
Dore Creperie
Doves and Figs Kitchen
Eversave Boston
Foodies of New England
The Four Seasons Boston
Haircuttery
Harvard Common Press
iParty
Klout
KO Catering & Pies
Langham Hotel Boston
Phillips Candy House
Pinkberry
Pretzel Crisps
Popchips
Stages of Beauty
Stonyfield
USA Pears

Brunch was gratis, but my opinions are my own.

Almost one bowl brownies

2011-10-10T01:35:00.007Z

I'm running a 10k tomorrow (and pretty happy I *didn't* run the BAA half with this hot weather) and after a morning of cleaning and a fun afternoon with the man - we watched the Pats game in 3 different bars, in 2 different cities - and a surprisingly yummy dinner at Foundry, it's time for some sweets.

First, can I tell you about dinner? We shared a flatbread and then the Parisian Gnocchi at Foundry. I didn't snap a photo, but here's the description: sauteed pate a choux dumplings, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, brown sugar-roasted acorn squash. This was served in half of a roasted acorn squash. Yumyum.

Now, brownies! I don't even know why I decided I should make brownies, but the recipe I have is a pretty simple, quick recipe that leaves you with a pan of gooey fudgy brownies in minutes.

Well, almost minutes. There is some butter melting, measuring, stirring, egg cracking. But everything mixes in a pot on the stove, and often I don't even use a second bowl for anything.
The bowl in the picture however I sifted my cocoa powder into and then tossed all of the dirty utensils in.

And, kids - this is why you need to pay attention in math class:

I halved the recipe since I knew we wouldn't (shouldn't?) have a whole pan of brownies on hand. I used the same pan dimensions though, and knew that the brownies would be very thin - so I cut the baking time to only 15 minutes.
Success!

Brownies don't photograph well, but trust me, they were delicious.

Other stuff that happened this week:
I doctored some TJ's coffee cake mix into muffins, made with applesauce. OK, these don't look pretty either, but they made a nice breakfast treat.

I made the NYT Recipes for Health chocolate pecan bars.

These, I don't recommend. I'm sorry, but it was a disaster - the egg/honey mixture on top ended up soaking into the crust and making an almost frittata-like texture of the recipe.

I was rowing (for the first time since surgery in 2008).

In the Sunday Night Kitchen

2011-09-26T02:11:00.006Z

For the past many weeks I've been baking every Sunday night.
Things I've made recently:

Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips
Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips
Chocolate chip cookies
Toffee chocolate chip cookies

I also made things that are not cookies:

Blueberry muffins
Lemon blueberry bread (with a lemon/powdered sugar glaze ftw)
Mark Bittman's beer bread
Mark Bittman's beer bread with cheese
Plum cake cockaigne

And tonight...

Banana Bread from Joanne Chang's FLOUR Cookbook!

If you're reading this (is anyone?) and you're not in the Boston area, Flour is a phenomenal bakery located in Central Square, the South End, and Fort Point. The style of baked goodies is so in line with what I like to bake and I was super excited that my brother bought me the cookbook and had it signed as a Christmas present this year.

Back to the banana bread:
As recipes go, quickbreads are fairly easy - mix the wet, mix the dry, mix them together, and bake. This one is slightly more bowl intensive and actually requires the use of my baby (aka trusty kitchenaid!) to beat the sugar and eggs together for 5 mins.
(As an aside, our fridge runs cold up top, and my eggs keep freezing! I'm not sure how to remedy this - maybe remember to put the eggs not in their eggslot on the door?)
I attempt to pan-toast walnuts to throw into this bread, but instead I pan-burned them. I also had dinner in the oven, so maybe I was too distracted by the glorious smell of melting cheese to smell the nuts toasting. So I just used chocolate chips in stead, darn.

Anyway, I wont bore you, here are some photos:

I'm back, birches!

2010-11-28T23:40:00.003Z

Uhm, so you may not have noticed my extended holiday from blogging. Now that I'm back, I intend to mix the cooking with complaining about wedding planning. First up - things I don't have pictures of!!

(1) I've actually been doing more cooking these days. I found a solid recipe for roasted vegetables from my mom's cousin's cookbook. This made an appearance again for Thanksgiving (round two). I also made some recipes that involve lentils and I'm working around to making soup.
(2) We joined a CSA! CSA pick up starts this Wednesday! Hopefully some of the random root vegetables we get will become soup. Yes, there will be a food processor on the wedding registry.
(3) I made a yummy applesauce cake courtesy of Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/10/spiced-applesauce-cake). I highly recommend giving it a shot. I made some minor modifications - adding cardamom and using vanilla syrup intended for coffee instead of vanilla extract. Oops, just didn't have any on hand!
(4) Chocolate chip cookies, courtesy King Arthur Flour Cookbook. The best part about these? I planned ahead and stuck some pre-formed cookies in the freezer. Hot fresh homemade cookies in minutes? I love it!

I have pictures of Thanksgiving baking for you, and I plan on experimenting with some yeast breads (and bagels) this week!

*Birches? Yes, that's an android auto-correct, and we're embracing it.

Happy Birthday!

2010-03-23T02:27:00.004Z

You may have seen birthday cake photos up here before. This is one skill that I kind of have, so I rock it whenever necessary. The basic recipe is brownies & ice cream. I add a few special touches. This year I went with Dublin Mudslide and Mud Pie. Because there was only one container of mint chocolate cookie and only one of Dublin Mudslide! Seriously, Safeway??? Also, I couldn't find my brownie recipe that is specific to ice cream cake, so I used the regular one. Verdict: DAMN that is hard to slice.

Below is the setup:
JV let me borrow a spring form, so I put one layer of frozen brownies in there, filled the cake pans with ice cream, and waited to bring it all together. You're probably also thinking that my kitchen is a cluttered mess. Well, the morning that I made this cake I just happened to wake up to puddles on the bathroom floor and kitchen counter (and later discovered, in the linen closet - thankfully the towels soaked it up). So I put all of those utensils through the dishwasher and did not put them back in their regular spot.

This is up close and personal on the Dublin Mudslide, now nestled atop the first brownie layer.

Here is my layer of crushed oreos... And that's the last of the construction pictures, as I discovered that Mud Pie was wicked melty. Back in the freezer, quick!

And now....... Drumroll please......

My boyfriend lighting his own candles (you can maybe make out the m&m S in the middle):

TA DA. How do you like dem apples?

(Or the Crispix, favorite cereal right there.)

Valentine's Cooking, Part 2

2010-02-15T17:02:00.003Z

Thank goodness for Trader Joe's, they make life so easy... Especially after a nearly hour long trip to whole foods for beer and these guys:

Pizza for dinner. Clearly I made the crust in the shape of a heart.

And used the roasted garlic sauce:

And goat mozzarella:

(Goat mozzarella? Yes... Tastes like a cross between mozz and goat cheese. Yummy.)
The final product:

Total cost on the pizza, probably $6? Time to make, 12 to cook, 5 to put together, however long it takes the oven to preheat... And about 50 times better than Jerry's $5 Monday night pizza.

Valentine's Cooking, Part 1

2010-02-15T16:54:00.003Z

I came across a suggestion of this recipe on someone's blog recently, and googled around until I found this recipe. This year's Valentine's Recipe: Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

I have to say, peanut butter is an AMAZING addition to rice krispie treats. It's like fluffernutter RKTs... Definitely give it a shot next time you make them.
The only change to the regular recipe is adding 1/2 cup of creamy pb to the melted marshmallow goo before you add in the cereal.

Here is my pb:

Marshmallow goo + pb

+ cereal

+ cookie cutters.... Awww. Except the addition of pb seems to make these even stickier and gooier, thus waaaaay more difficult to cut.

And you could cover them in chocolate if you wanted too:

Pretty! I hid these in the fridge, and they were a welcome treat since we totally destroyed the half of the pan not cut into hearts. Seriously, this recipe is soooo good.

Snowstorm & Comfort Food

2010-02-15T16:35:00.004Z

In case you've been living under a rock, we had a kind of enormous snowstorm, and then another, smaller, storm. We have been sort of "snowed in" - we only got one car dug out Saturday, mine is actually rescuable from it's space, but there is about 6 feet of snow between the car and the street right now.
Wednesday we went to the grocery store, only to find it had just closed, so we went up to CVS and got some pop tarts and juice. Since we go grocery shopping once a week, we didn't get caught up in the madness of buying milk and bread... Of course, a gallon of milk and loaf of bread only lasts so long, and after a while we decided we were a little hungry.
On Thursday, after hearing rumors that Trader Joe's was stocked, we still tried to go to Safeway, but upon discovering that they still didn't have vegetables or milk we walked two miles to Trader Joe's and got some real groceries. Milk! Half and half! Bread! Cheese! Yum.
So I made this for dinner:

And this is after we devoured it (hungry from that 2 mile walk):

Sooooooo best mac & cheese recipe EVER.

We've also been being a little crazy and doing a lot of running. On Thursday, SB and I went for a five mile run on our usual loop. This involves crossing the Key Bridge and running along the Potomac and then passing Arlington Cemetery. Can you guess how much of that was plowed? Yeah, about half of it. Let me tell you, running through three feet of snow is an amazing workout.

Snow photos:

Lemon Drops Part II

2009-12-22T19:12:00.002Z

This post is mostly photos of frosted cookies. No complaints.

Getting ready - lots of confectioners sugar.

Close up

Lots of cookies!!!

These came to work on Thursday for our White Elephant - I almost had an amazing present and it got stolen twice.... SIGH.

Saving lemon rinds in the freezer for future zesting.

Italian Lemon Drop Cookies Part I

2009-12-16T03:24:00.006Z

Well thanks to those handy tags at the bottom of this post, I discovered that the last time I made these was about two years ago - right after I had a steroid injection in my wrist - and took the GRE (ohmygod, life pre GPPI!). Anyway, two years later the fat has finally returned to my wrist - apparently one of the side effects of the steroid injection is that it destroys all the fat where it got injected - it was like there was a hole in my wrist.

GROSSNESS ASIDE....

Tonight after I finished a bunch of work that was due, went for a run, hit up 2 different grocery stores (and ran into a former co-worker at one), and cooked & ate my dinner, I decided I needed to bake these. We have an epic White Elephant/Potluck at work on Thursday (someone's going home with Made of Honor - heehee) and clearly I was going to bake something. Plus I'm having some girls over to decorate cookies on Sunday, so I need to get familiar with my KitchenAid again.... Oh, and first I cleaned the kitchen a little too.

Here's Brad Pitt trying to study for Econometrics:

Mom's recipe is a little hard to follow, so I'm just going to link you over here to RecipeZaar for a similar recipe.

A grated the rind of two lemons in with the shortening & sugar:

After combining all the ingredients it came together quite nicely. God I love this KitchenAid!!!

Oh yeah, had a Brooklyn Winter Ale while I baked:

Their Penant Ale and the Post Road Pumpkin are also great. Maybe I'll go visit this brewery when we're in NYC over break.

What comes next? Using my cookie scoop to make cookies:

And then bake them:

Some came out better than others:

Those are the eaters though. Why did this happen? These cookies were from the bottom and had a litle extra shortening in there.

When baked properly, the bottom should look like this:

These are nice light lemony cookies. Tomorrow night (when I get home sometime after 9pm....) they will be glazed with a lemon juice/powdered sugar concoction and decorated with multi colored nonpareil sprinkles....

THEN EATEN. YUM!

Just want you to know:

2009-08-27T14:08:00.002Z

I'll be posting about this pie after we eat it tonight. Props to Runner's Kitchen and Pete Bakes on the inspiration/recipe.

Back bend on a Donut

2009-08-12T20:44:00.001Z

I read this today and it kind of bugged me. If you read it knowing it's based purely on the fact that adding exercise is not the post effective way for you to lost weight, then it is somewhat logical, but if you think harder, you might say, "Why did they waste four (online) pages on this? And wouldn't you be healthier if you stayed the same weight with exercise than lost weight but were still a couch potato?"
Also, it's not like if you eat less and don't exercise you'll drop 25 pounds immediately. That's going to be incremental, so you may as well gain a little fitness while you do it.

Yikes, so below are some excerpts from Time's article "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin": http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html, and then my comments on them...

The conventional wisdom that exercise is essential for shedding pounds is actually fairly new. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against rigorous exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly overstated.

Uhm, you're not saying much here, and what you are saying sounds a little contradictory. Wouldn't you rather have lower risk of diseases than weigh less?

What's going on here? Church calls it compensation, but you and I might know it as the lip-licking anticipation of perfectly salted, golden-brown French fries after a hard trip to the gym.

Please, find me one person who wants to scarf fries after a run? I prefer a granola bar, dry cereal, slice of (whole wheat) bread.... Something that's not going to make my stomach unhappy.

A standard 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade contains 130 calories. If you're hot and thirsty after a 20-minute run in summer heat, it's easy to guzzle that bottle in 20 seconds, in which case the caloric expenditure and the caloric intake are probably a wash. From a weight-loss perspective, you would have been better off sitting on the sofa knitting.

If you're hot and thirsty after a 20 minute run in the summer heat, you can drink water and be a-ok. You don't need any electrolytes under half an hour, and you don't need 20 ounces of electrolytes. In fact, it's more like 4-8 ounces for every 20 minutes of exercise. And again, let's talk about making the stomach unhappy (or at least mine, I'm sure you're glad to know this)... Plus, so I've heard, better absorption of gato or other sports drinks occurs when it's about 1/2 strength. I tend to drink flavored seltzer with an ounce or two of juice in it post-run.

"If you're more physically active, you're going to get hungry and eat more." Gortmaker, who has studied childhood obesity, is even suspicious of the playgrounds at fast-food restaurants. "Why would they build those?" he asks. "I know it sounds kind of like conspiracy theory, but you have to think, if a kid plays five minutes and burns 50 calories, he might then go inside and consume 500 calories or even 1,000."

Uhhhh they build those so kids can have fun, play, you know, do kid stuff. Also, have you known anyone to burn 50 calories in 5 minutes???????
And wouldn't McDonald's prefer if you bought 1,000 calories of food for the little one??

We all need to move more — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says our leisure-time physical activity (including things like golfing, gardening and walking) has decreased since the late 1980s, right around the time the gym boom really exploded. But do we need to stress our bodies at the gym?

Sure, we don't need to. But sometimes doesn't it feel kind of good? Also, I'm curious, since I don't have a garden to garden in: all else equal, are people who live in smaller (sqft) homes heavier than people who live in larger ones?

Actually, it's not clear that vigorous exercise like running carries more benefits than a moderately strenuous activity like walking while carrying groceries.

What kind of benefits are we talking? Running will better prepare you to run a race or escape a tiger than carrying your groceries will.

In short, it's what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain. I love how exercise makes me feel, but tomorrow I might skip the VersaClimber — and skip the blueberry bar that is my usual postexercise reward.

It's what you don't eat, not what you eat too much of because you think you've earned it. And most people don't exercise to "work it off" but to "work out." You shouldn't have a postexercise reward, you should have a post exercise refuel.
Besides, fries and gatorade - not part of a diet that helps you lose weight, regardless of whether you work out or not.

On Farmer's Markets

2009-08-11T13:53:00.002Z

Have you ever been to the Arlington Farmer's Market in Courthouse on Saturday mornings? It's really fantastic, and if you haven't been you should make the effort. Similar to the Dupont Market I guess, Atwater's is there but Napoleon Bakery is not (thank god for Wednesdays in Foggy Bottom). However, Willow Restaurant is always there with treats, this week it was a peach-hazelnut tart with ice cream. Mmmm, ice cream for breakfast.
I tend to go between 9-11, and it's usually pretty crowded. Westmoreland Berry Farm has the longest lines and seem to have some good looking fruits. I usually make my way around the market, stopping in with one guy for yellow grape tomatoes, another farm for cucumbers, another for berries, and yet another for peaches (and then get a loaf of bread, mmmm bread).
Well this week, I had peaches and I had big tomatoes from Thursday, but I wanted some more blueberries & raspberries. And as luck would have it, the berry farm had an extremely short line. So I got in it. I have to say the blackberries were enormous, but I'm not the blackberry's biggest fan, so I didn't get them. (Incidentally, I have a regular old flip cell phone with no internet.) I picked up a box of blueberries, a box of raspberries, and a box of yellow cherry tomatoes.

Here is my assessment:
Raspberries - awesome, sweet & big
Tomatoes - mealy, boring, not snappy
Blueberries - not tart, almost sweet, kind of bland

In other words, not worth my waiting in line in the future, I'd rather visit a bunch of different farmers to get the same stuff.

My question is this: Are they usually better? Is that why there was no line this week? Did I get an off box of blueberries? (Is that possible?) Were everyone's blueberries boring this week?
Or are they just not worth visiting in the future?

Happy Birthday to Me (and Us)

2009-07-15T00:30:00.008Z

Lesson learned: toaster ovens are not for baking cupcakes. (I thought maybe similar to the EZ Bake Oven, but nope.)
Look what happened:

Those are toasted on the top and totally gooey on the inside. Oops.

I still made two dozen* cupcakes and a two-layer cake.
Yes, I kind of did make my own birthday cake, but it was for a party for these birthday boys and girls:

Matt is wearing a Soylent Green t-shirt in this photo, which I thought was pretty funny. Anyway, onwards to my super adventures in the kitchen.

1. On Tuesday night I baked the layer cakes (and I used MATH! to figure out if I needed to double the recipe for the two pans or not. Yes children, math is useful in real life.), then let them cool and stuck them in the freezer until Friday.
The cake recipe is from the Silver Palate Cookbook I think, but it involves a cup of wine. Adult cake I guess.
2. Friday morning I took the cakes out to defrost.
3. Friday post-work I baked some cupcakes. Wait till you hear what I did with them.

4. Saturday morning it was FROSTING time. If you don't know this about me, I love frosting. Not that lame-ass buttercream stuff, but the sugary-sweet kind. Oh yeah. Usually I just eat the frosting from cakes and leave the rest of the cake to scavengers.
Frosting recipe from same cookbook. It involves melting chocolate and butter, then adding it to milk and powdered sugar and vanilla. Yum. Then you have to refrigerate and beat it every 15 minutes. YUMMMM.

5. And I cut up some strawberries.

6. Then I went wild with cupcakes. I used the filling tip from my cupcake frosting set and filled them with chocolate frosting!

7. And I frosted my cakes, adding a layer of strawberries in the middle.
There was a lot of switching things in and out of the fridge because it was HOT and the frosting got a little melty.

8. And I frosted the cupcakes. Some of them got strawberries, some got sprinkles. Check them out! (I didn't get a great picture because things were starting to get hectic, so no cupcake porn sadly. If you want real porn, you can go see Bruno.)

9. And I decorated the cake. I used some vanilla frosting from the can or contrast, and pretty colored sprinkles and star confetti. And more piping tips.

Yes, I put sprinkles only on the white frosting in case you can't tell from this photo.
Maybe I should start taking orders?

Anyway, the cake was excellent. Really really moist, and then a good contrast between strawberries and chocolate frosting. Delicious with ice cream too, but what isn't??? And I did actually eat the cake. I made it, which meant it was awesome, so of course I was going to eat it.
(Just in case you can't tell, I'm really freaking proud of myself!!)

*Less the two that got zapped on the top rack of the convection oven. Jeeez.

All Star 4th of July Brownies Go USA

2009-07-15T00:14:00.003Z

It's been a while, I know. I'm currently watching the All-Star game (I know, who is this girl??). But I think Wake is an awesome pitcher, even though we don't have Mirabelli anymore, his dedicated catcher. Go Sox. Or go AL... And the Big O is throwing out the first pitch! Also right now there is a Marine Corps concert across the street, so now for my segue into 4th of July brownie-mania.

July 4th was busy: 3 barbeques/parties, then fireworks watching. I also made 3 pans of s'mores brownies, because after apple (or cherry) pie, what's more American than s'mores*?

Anyway, this was one of those times that I was 100% ok with brownie mix since it was being kicked up a few notches.
I came across a bunch of recipes, but the simplest and also one of the better sounding involved just crunching up some grahams and tossing them into the batter. I added milk & semisweet chocolate chips to it too.

Then put some marshmallows on the top. You actually just bake it with the marshmallows on top and they get gooey and toasted in the oven**.

They came out awesome! And again, sooooo easy. And I don't think I'm talking myself up too much when I say that everyone loved them, I mean, they were pretty awesome.

(Oh, I tried to make some ganache and drizzle it over the top, but it wasn't quite thin enough. Here's the photo.)

*S'mores came from the girl scouts. Blueberry pie would also be all-American as blueberries are native t0 North America.
**Right. In the convection oven, not so much. A few recipes suggested sticking hem under the broiler, but since we are not using the oven......

Comcast Resolved

2009-07-02T13:45:00.000Z

Supposedly, will have to check on it when I get home. Wonder what exactly did the trick.

Comcast Issues - If you blog it they will come. Or something.

2009-07-01T19:48:00.006Z

Yes, we've been having Comcast issues. Ever since I switched our service (got Encore & HBO, paid less) we haven't been able to watch anything on Encore On Demand. And let me tell you, I've tried to watch 102 Dalmations about 20 times and it still isn't working.
Friday after a horrible morning at the dentist I was supposed to stay home and nurse my novacained face waiting for Comcast.

Comcast called right at 2. I thought, well aren't I lucky?
As you can guess, I am not.
My Comcast caller told me that Comcast's call center people had screwed up (no way, really) and that they weren't actually supposed to send anyone out to fix my problem due to the nature of the error. It was in fact supposed to go to Comcast's On Demand people and they would fix it remotely. Needless to say he would not be coming by and this was the day that I should have just gone to work.
(Hey, I have a great dentist NOW though because of it.)
He did however give me all of his supervisor's information - phone & email - and told me his technician number, and that if our service wasn't fixed in 24-48 hours, to call his supervisor.
Well Monday morning I called twice, left a message and eventually sent an email.
Today I called again, left a message (while he was on the phone, because it's a cell number and I get that annoying beep) and sent an email.

The last time I ranted about Comcast they discovered the blog and started fixing stuff, hopefully this will help too.
And I will keep calling and emailing until this gets fixed.

So Comcast=jerks. Again. Can't wait to move somewhere that I don't need to use it. UGH.

Bitsy

2009-06-29T15:35:00.002Z

If you have 2 minutes where you would be doing nothing today, instead please vote for my mom's cat as the cutest cat in Rhode Island:

http://www.rimonthly.com/Rhode-Island-Monthly/Pet-Contest-2009

Cat name: Bitsy
Cat number: 26518

Bitsy's photo is here: http://www.rimonthly.com/Rhode-Island-Monthly/Pet-Contest-2009/index.php?mode=popup&cp=42&view=slideshow&play=0
She looks like this:

She is honestly super cute. This weekend she escaped, caught a bird, then left it on the rug in the living room. How darling.

Excitement!

2009-06-29T14:44:00.003Z

Running excitement (times two)!
Kitchen excitement (times BAD)!

In the order that it happened:
Running excitement, part 1: During Friday night's run there was a monstrous thunderstorm and it just happened to get bad after we ran past the waterfront and up under the Whitehurst.
Where Owen Wilson & Reese Witherspoon were filming a movie. Sweet.
We watched them walk back & forth in manufactured rain for a while and some people from LA saw their first hail.

Kitchen excitement: When we got home half of our power was off. We made some Indian food, and I turned on the oven to heat up some frozen Naan.
Oh shit.
I opened the oven and there were FLAMES shooting out of the bottom of it. I think we have a gas leak. Yikes. And I need to bake a super big birthday cake for next weekend. (For my birthday party!)

Running excitement, part 2: I went for a nice long run (like 6.75 according to Map My Run) last night and did the around the White House loop. When I got there they had just tackled and were arresting a guy on the north side of the White House. Drama. I went around past the treasury and a police car sped out of the secure area and down 15th St. As I got down 15th St there was a crowd of people and two runners looked and me and said "They're going to make you stop."
Turns out there was a motorcade (pres or vp) coming through, press pool and all. Once I was allowed to run across the south side I had to stop and wait again because important people were getting out of the motorcade and walking inside.

And my butt/hip didn't hurt when I got home! (And didn't hurt this morning.) I'm still taking it "easy" so running every other day and getting elliptical & stretches or some yoga in on the off days.

UGH

2009-06-23T20:54:00.001Z

Comcast = (Stupid + Incompetent) x Frustration

If you're going to make cookies, you'd better go for a run.

2009-06-18T01:57:00.003Z

I did both! Sweet.
See my butt/hip/it band have been bugging me lately and I have been taking it easy on the running. This sucks because I just got new sneakers and really would like to run in them (they are pink! ok, that's not the real reason) and we are doing the Baltimore Marathon Relay in October. I would like to kick some butt.
As I was walking home today I was totally flip flopping - go run because I wasn't hurting, take a rest day because I wasn't hurting and didn't want to make anything unhappy, just go to work early and elliptical tomorrow. Hard decisions.
Ultimately I decided that I would test it out and do some laps around the memorial. It's about 6-7 minutes when I'm feeling ok, so I figured I would be close to home in case I was feeling pain. I started with a walk, turned it into a slow jog, and felt kind of ok. So I progressed into a slow run down the hill and determined I should run towards Memorial Bridge, which I did... Got there, turned around, came back and did about a lap and a half around the memorial. All in all, not bad.

To the baking!
First - today is my brother's birthday. My mom made him a brownie ice cream cake, with peppermint ice cream. So you see where I get it.
Second - SB needs cookies for a lunch tomorrow, so I said I'd make them.
For the first batch I just used a packaged chocolate chip cookie mix (I know, packaged! but they turn out just fine, because it's not like I break & bake.) and added toffee chips to it. I should have added walnuts, but didn't think of it until I was almost done scooping cookies.
And they turned out super yummy. The addition of toffee chips makes them a little more homemade. Plus - warm chocolate chip cookies? Who's going to complain?
The second batch was brownie cookies. I used my regular chewy brownie recipe from King Arthur Flour, the ones that JV said were delicious, and she could kick my ass in a baking contest.
I baked them in muffin tins though, using my melon baller/cookie scoop I put a big lump of brownie batter in and baked them for about 15 minutes.
Came out awesome too, even though I realized that I forgot vanilla. (You'd have to have pretty discerning taste buds to get that.)

Anyway, since I got that run in, I might put some ice cream on a brownie for dessert.
Here are some photos:

Poseidon on M St.

2009-06-04T11:24:00.002Z

There are some days when you curse yourself for not having a camera with you. Yesterday afternoon was one of them. I saw the strangest thing as I was leaving the Wachovia and walking to Foggy Bottom.

I was about to cross M St. at 29th and was in kind of a funk so was just sort of gazing across the street waiting for the light to change and I heard a guy (on a bike) shouting. So I looked over, and striding down the street was the craziest guy I've ever seen in the city.

He looked like Poseidon:

(But he was black.) But legitimately this guy looked like he had walked out of the Potomac with trident in hand. He was barefoot, shirtless, and wearing what I would best describe as a denim skirt, but likely was a torn pair of jorts - which also happened to be ripped straight up the side, so you could see his bare thigh (he's neither boxers nor briefs). Not only that - he had bleached blond dreads and beard, and was carrying a wooden stick.

I STARED. (So did I'm sure everyone else who walked past him.) Then I thought, wtf do you do when a half naked, barefoot, homeless god of the sea strolls out of the Potomac and down M St. Do you call the cops? 311? Assume that if he walks into Cusp someone else will do it? Clearly I did nothing, my camera phone wouldn't have done him justice, but hopefully someone else out there caught sight of the Potomac Poseidon.

It was freaking weird.

GPOYPW (Gratuitous picture of your pie Wednesday)

2009-06-04T00:45:00.009Z

I made another pie. This week's was strawberry-rhubarb, made with a pound and a half of rhubarb and nearly a quart of strawberries - both from the farmer's market*.
When I came home from work on Monday, I started with the pie crust:

When my mom first bought me that kitchen tool I didn't know how often I'd use it - but pie crusts, scones.... It turned that flour and butter into this:

This might sound like the last post, but I made the crust, stuck it in the fridge, then SB & I went for our Burn After Reading run... When we got back, and after dinner and a shower, I got to baking. This is why we are watching Body of Lies again.

Then I cut up about 4 cups of rhubarb and 2 cups of strawberries:

And mixed that with some orange rind, white and light brown sugar, a bit of cornstarch and some cinnamon. You can see in this photo what I use to roll pie doughs on - my pizza stone (in the lower left)! I cover it in parchment though (which also makes it super easy to get the crust into the pan).

Then I did this:

Fuck yeah that's lattice!

I know, it's beautiful.... You should see this:

(make sure you're not drooling.)
And this:

So I covered the cookie sheet in aluminum foil and put the pie on that - maybe this is why the bottom crust wasn't as crispy as it could have been? However, we didn't get smoked out of the kitchen by rhubarb juice on the floor of the oven, like what happened after my brother and I turned on the oven after mom made her two tart and delicious rhubarb pies.

Now that you've seen the pictures I'm sure you'd like to know how it tasted?
As I mentioned, the bottom crust just wasn't as crispy (flaky?) as it could have been, but the lattice tasted great. I love pie crust though and it provides a good salty contrast, so I think in the future - as cool as the lattice looks - I might just roll out a regular old top crust. (And cut hearts out of it?) The combo of rhubarb and strawberry was awesome - the fresh sweetness of the strawberries really cut down on the tartness of the rhubarb, not that I don't love straight up rhubarb pies (and I have some rhubarb leftover!) - but it also makes it a little more marketable to people who aren't so fond of the tart pie. And always always add the orange rind!

*On the subject of farmer's markets, I was trying to figure out which vendor was getting dissed in this post from DC Foodies on the Foggy Bottom market and realized it's probably my favorite people there. Also, they've always been plenty nice and talkative - but usually are busy because they have so much stuff, which would be why they stand behind the table. Also - no mention on the French bakery? So good. So is Atwater's and I am plenty happy that I can buy bread from them twice a week.

One more, just for the hell of it!

Apple Pie

2009-05-02T20:54:00.007Z

To the best of my efforts, I didn't type "applie" but I'll be spell checking for it again later...

Two weeks ago I went to the Dupont Farmer's market on Sunday since I had missed the Saturday Courthouse market when I was hanging out at P.R. Harris, getting ready to put other people's Hands on DC. The rhubarb is still not in season, in fact, there really isn't any fruit in season yet, but there are apples. And since I'd been wishing and hoping for rhubarb to make a pie I decided I should make an apple pie instead. So I bought a lot of apples - granny smith and a few other varieties.
And then I waited... And waited... HODC came and went and my two presentations came and went, and Wednesday night when I got home early (ok, like 6:30) I promptly made the pie crust.
Two sticks of butter makes it better.
Then I went for a run (because if there are two sticks of butter in that crust, I need a run before I eat any) and when I got home, sliced apples. I used my so sharp it'll cut you knife (because it has) and made super thin slices of apple, then mixed it with a flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice....
And rolled out the crust. Thoughts on this: when you refridgerate crust, cut it in half and mold it into discs not balls.
Filled the crust with apples and voila.....

Possibly my best apple pie ever:

Gooey and delicious, but not runny.

Bon Appetit!

Saturday: 5 reasons to be happy

2009-05-02T16:31:00.000Z

Need I say more? Tomatoes are in season!

The Silly Silly

2009-04-04T22:27:00.003Z

Surprise after bringing SB to the airport:

But I'm afraid to eat it (it's BLUE):

What mom sent:

She sent these too, kisses!:

I like tourists.

2009-03-29T21:40:00.003Z

WHAT?

Today has been very productive, outside of the fact that I haven't written this memo yet. I have chocolate marble banana bread in the oven, made smoothies (sans ice), and went for my 1 week out run.

Cherry Blossom is on Sunday. I'm feeling: trepidation. :)
But my run this afternoon was good - I went down from the Marine Corps Memorial, past Arlington Cemetery, along the Potomac on the VA side, across 14th St bridge and into the madness.
The madness being Cherry Blossom crowds at the Tidal Basin of course. It actually wasn't that bad, but the people who decided they should drive down there? Kind of a stupid idea. There I am, running faster than you folks in your cars. So I continued past the Jefferson Memorial (my favorite) and along the river on the DC side with the Cherry Blossoms. There were lots of people out and about (the weather today was also lovely) - people walking, running, biking, etc.
I even saw a bus full of sakura girls (or just Japanese girls dressed up for the parade I guess) escorted by a DC police car.
Then I ran past the Lincoln Memorial, over Memorial Bridge and back past the Cemetery and the Marine Corps.

Cool route. So why did I decide I like tourists? It might have been the historical symbolism involved in the run, but it's nice to ignore DC's problems (Marion Barry, DCPS, guns, crack - heck, all of those can be contributed to Marion) and see what the tourists see* when they come to DC. Also, amidst this recession it's nice to see people still able to enjoy themselves and take a vacation. I know they stand on the left and hog the sidewalks downtown, but I guess I also have the privilege of taking the Blue Bus to work/school and not having to deal much with them.
Maybe it's just the weather making my disposition a little sunnier (maybe, especially because I'm screwed on my bracket now that Pitt lost, Louisville didn't help either).

I dunno. Memo time. House smells like chocolate and bananas (and smiles).

*Unless they have the misfortune of staying in one of the budget NY Ave hotels. Then they'll see the other side of DC.

What can your pre-tax dollars do?

2009-03-24T21:44:00.005Z

NERD ALERT - We're not talking cookies here (but if I could repay loans in cookies...)!

Allow me to digress from baking here while I try to work out this idea I came up with at school today. I'm sure someone else with much more influence than I have has had it too, but as grad students with a gazillion dollars in student loans (no, I'm not going to do the math, I don't want to know the real number) clearly we're looking for a way to not be in debt for the rest of our lives. Especially thanks to AIG and predatory lenders destroying the economy.

In class we were talking about social security and Medicare and 401Ks so this was a kind of related topic: Why can't we repay student loans with tax-free dollars? Example, like your flexible spending accounts, a chunk of money comes monthly from your paycheck and goes to health expenses. So in this proposal, the money you would be putting in the bank then sending back to whoever is managing your loan would go straight from your paycheck to the loan people, without setting foot in your bank account (or passing go or collecting $200 dollars). And you wouldn't pay taxes on the money that you're paying interest on.

Pros:

You don't have to pay taxes on that part of your wages.

Less defaulting on loans - if you're employed you automatically are paying for your loans.

Employers may find it attractive to include loan repayment as a benefit (which may decrease your salary).

Incentivizes college attendance. (A little bit.)

Cons:

How exactly would this be managed? Does the govt need to set up one loan/repayment place so that employers aren't tasked with managing all of that hassle? (Or would this create new jobs!)

Thoughts? It seemed like a good idea to us in the lounge - those of us who actively need to plan how to get out of this kind of debt-up-to-our-eyeballs.

Side note: did you watch Mama's Boys? It would have been the worst reality dating show I'd ever seen until that jerk on The Bachelor dumped his fiance on live TV. Anyway, there was this one very fake girl who had $130k of debt - and not the student loan kind. More like the fake tits and over spending credit card kind. Dealbreaker!

But maybe some serious and super-smart economist or Congressional historian can explain to me why this isn't working? (Dear Steven Levitt, if you were to post on my blog I would have a nerdgasm.)

Note, somewhere in this post I used have in 3 different tenses. In a row. And I think the sentence made sense.

GREEN.

2009-03-17T03:41:00.003Z

Did I ever tell you about the time I dyed my brother green (mom, stop reading...)?

It wasn't that bad, I was just being stupid, and maybe I was 12 years old..... I decided that while it's fun to play with Oobleck (corn starch + water) it would be WAAAAY more fun to play with green Oobleck. So I added a few drops of food coloring.

Bad idea.

All of a sudden our hands were green and of course so was a good lot of my two year old brother. Bath time, immediately. He may have had some stains for a while, but that's ok, I mean, you can eat food coloring so it's not bad for you.

And now the point of this story:

I thought it would be cute to make green rice krispies treats for St Patrick's day (and cuter if I could find a shamrock cookie cutter but no luck - see Baked & Wired Valentine's treats). Anyway, they came out sort of Army camo colored. Taste good, but a little pale.

Lesson learned. Green food coloring is for frosting ONLY.

Sunday Champagne Brunch

2009-03-09T02:55:00.002Z

The Spread:

Clockwise from the melon:
Cantaloupe, coffee cake, eggs (which SB made for us) & potatoes, banana bread, raspberry scones, mimosa, cranberry muffins.

Berry Berry Brunch

2009-03-09T02:45:00.003Z

So in super planning, last night I mixed ALL of the dry ingredients for my 3 berry-licious breakfast goodies. Raspberry scones, cranberry muffins and sweet corn coffeecake. (Minus I was short on sugar so I had to go out and buy sugar and just in case more eggs this morning.) Last night I went on a search for frozen cranberries and ended up at Whole Foods where I bought 3 of the 4 bags of frozen cranberries they had - just in case someone else came around looking for frozen cranberries. But cranberry muffins are my favorite and the recipe I have is pretty good.

I also made raspberry scones, with an older recipe that uses all cream and no eggs. They were a little cakier than the other version but the cream makes them sweeter. I kind of had to undo and add more cream then re-form them, so they turned a little pink.

Anyway, here are the final products:

Scones, muffins, muffins...

Coffeecake

They were all delicious, I think the cranberry muffins were my favorite (duh), but this cofeecake is super yummy.

Dharma Bete Noir in Photos

2009-03-09T02:30:00.001Z

I had people over for brunch this morning. I baked a lot. In fact, due to time change and SB not feeling like going out, I kind of staying in last night and cooked. Here is the progression of 12 ounces of chocolate into Bete Noir.

First, 12 oz of chopped chocolate:

Sounds fantastic, now add 2 sticks of butter:

And combine with 5 beaten eggs:

Bake:

Dust with confectioners sugar:

I didn't have a doily, so I tried to cut out a paper snowflake, but it looks a little like the Dharma symbol. Totally not intentional.
This was delicious. Super super rich (as you'd expect a flourless chocolate cake to be) and doesn't need anything beyond confectioners sugar. Whipped cream might be too rich, but a raspberry sauce could be tasty. Definitely a hit. Fairly easy to make so I'll be making this again.

Kick you when I'm down

2009-03-02T15:38:00.004Z

So this girl learned the hard way that when it snows south of, oh.... Pennsylvania, people usually flip out, systems break down, buses can't run and there is no way you'll have class. Allow me to go back in time: Winter 2002/03

There was a major winter weather event going on in Williamsburg on Thursday night. This meant that all of my friends were going to drink. But man was I stubborn (what else is new?), I was sitting in my room working on my French homework and desperately trying to finish it so I could go out too. But everyone was adamant that we wouldn't have class the next day, even bad-ex from Chicago. Ok, fine. No class tomorrow, I'll go drink. GREAT IDEA.

(I just want to note, I really only missed 1 class ever because of drinking and then there was that one art class I showed up an hour late too. The rowing helped that considerably, though I may have gone to practice drunk once or twice...)

So we went and got s-faced in someone's room (hi, underage drinking), played various drinking games, etc. And it had been snowing for some time. But by the time we left, maybe it was 1am, and it had STOPPED SNOWING. The ground was covered in maybe 4-6 inches of white snowy stuff, about as much as we have today, and it was a little bit slippery. And I was drunk, in case you had forgotten. And it had stopped snowing. Key parts to the story right there, did I tell you I was from New England? Yeah. So if we had 6 inches of snow that stopped at 1am there would be school the next day without a doubt.

Have I mentioned I was drunk? And also with bad-ex, which means I was feeling angry. It was also his idea that I should come out and drink because we wouldn't have class. So clearly I got a little riled up. I may have raised my voice. I may have said "This is all your fault!" (Clearly it was ALL his fault since generally everything was at that time.) And I may have swung back my foot getting ready to deliver a swift kick to the shins. Has it not sunk in how drunk I was?

All of a sudden, there I was, in a parking lot covered in school-canceling snow, and LYING FLAT ON MY BACK because darn if that snow wasn't super slippery and clearly hadn't seen the likes of a plow.

Whoops. Needless to say, even though Obama makes fun of DC for the mass panic, I understand. I understand the severe lack of snow removing infrastructure. Also, it's probably pretty funny to laugh at drunk people who fall down in the snow. (Or who high jump into bushes covered with it. Just saying.)

Oh yeah, and needless to say, a year later when we had 2.5" of snow and ice we were out of class for 2.5 days. I was not surprised this time.

Outr street before things starting seriously sticking.

Please, no photographs.

2009-03-02T15:37:00.001Z

If I said something about yeast it would probably just be gross...

2009-02-22T15:44:00.006Z

I baked bread last night. I'm not sure what the motivation was but at some point when I got home from the basketball game and while I was trying to make up for not eating lunch so I could go for a run I decided I needed to bake bread. (Ahhh, so while I was making up for not eating lunch clearly it was an I wish I had some good bread and butter to eat pre-run because that will not make me feel ill.)

So I had to go to Safeway and buy flour and yeast and pulled my old trick of picking the wrong line. I need to not do that. The one time I told the cashier that I always pick the wrong line he was totally insulted. I don't do that anymore.

Anyway, flour & yeast secured, I managed to not kill the yeast by using too much hot water. The dough actually rose fantastically. Somehow I'd also discovered a no-knead recipe which was nice because I don't have the right kind of board to knead bread on.

Here are before:

And after photos:

Anyway, then I shaped the dough into loaves (and I have a good amount saved in the fridge for next weekend), let it rest for a while to rise some more and baked it in the oven with a semi-steam bath. Let's say that could have been more successful had I had a broiler pan maybe.

But the breads came out nice. They sort of expanded out instead of up but they are delicious. So I will be eating that all week, along with my banana bread which I have promised to bring to work tomorrow.

I am so crafty, though easily impressed too. Katie made homemade oreos.

Chocolate Marble Banana Bread aka I need to host brunch soon.

2009-02-21T17:31:00.006Z

I've had these brown bananas hanging around for a few days and clearly I knew what I was going to do with them. BANANA BREAD.

Again I had my healthy add-ins confused and thought I needed applesauce (what is this, pumpkin bread?) but no, it was plain yogurt which I of course didn't have.

So I went to the grocery store after I bought the cats a laser pointer.
They weren't particularly interested. Well, only a little bit - they didn't go nuts.

(Creaming the butter & sugar)

But while I was searching for healthy banana bread that used applesauce instead of butter/oil (you'll see I didn't find it) I came across this super fantastic AND EASY idea for chocolate marble banana bread.

Recipe:
Combine: 2 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon & set aside
Cream: 1/2 c (that's 1 stick) butter and 1 c sugar, then add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla
Then: Mash 3ish soft bananas and add 1/2 c plain yogurt

Add bananas and dry mixture to butter/sugar - alternating wet & dry mixtures.
Then stir in 1/2-3/4 c chocolate chips (I used mini ones) and 1/2 to 3/4 c chopped walnuts to batter.

Now comes the marble part - melt 1/2 c chocolate chips in the microwave, then stir in approx 1 c of the banana bread batter - you've got chocolate banana bread.
Spoon regular and chocolate batters into a pan, then use a knife to cut across (thus marbling) the batter.

(In the oven - I actually had to take out the top rack because it puffed so high.)

Bake in 325 degree oven for 50-60-70-80 minutes... I'm convinced this cooks too low since it always takes FOREVER to bake this bread (such that I've taken it out while still kind of raw a few times) and our new oven cooks hot so it shouldn't have taken as long as it did.

EAT. Deliciousness.

Powerbar Recovery - My tastebuds must be busted?

2008-10-17T22:22:00.006Z

I just ate this peanut butter caramel crisp flavor with chocolatey coating Powerbar Recovery. And it tasted pretty good? So either my tastebuds are totally wrecked for some reason, or I was really hungry after this run? The odds that it can help restore muscle lipids and still taste good must be slim to none. (And, odds are not the same as probability, which is not the same as percent. Just sayin'.)

Missing

2008-10-17T19:31:00.002Z

Where is our camera cord? It's missing, and I want to post photos of our two (two!) ovens and the stuff I baked in them....

Part 2

2008-10-10T18:21:00.000Z

I didn't want to keep you waiting for too long, since now the story gets pretty interesting. Did I mention I was barely on hold last night?

Part 2:
So she's sending signals to the cable box and it's not responding. And not responding. And the time comes back but disappears again. And doesn't respond. And then she sends it another signal. And we have cable again! Sweet. I was going to watch a DVD anyway. But then I'll be able to get the weather tomorrow.
So she says "Well, go ahead and try your internet."
Ha!
(No one's been able to get it set up for TWO DAYS over the phone. Just in case you had forgotten.)
I said, "OK, but if it works, you deserve a big prize, it's taken 3 hours on the phone to get nowhere." More than three hours. Of bullshit Comcast people making life miserable and sucking away our internet.

I tried it anyway.

Then I told her I loved her.

Wow. The girl who reset the TV. BROUGHT US INTERNET. LOVE IT!

Trying to get money back from bills that don't exist in Comcast-land

2008-10-10T14:20:00.002Z

Comcast-land is an imaginery strange and bizarre place where bills take two weeks to get from my kitchen to their computer. And phones don't connect to who they should, remember that.

So for some reason, I can give them the phone number for our old place, but they can't link it to the new place. And the phone number on the account is out of area code so it automatically brings us to the wrong people. But somehow, this number won't bring up the account. Hello, I'm confused. Anyway, today I didn't have the account number with me, so they had to look it up by address. And typed in the wrong address and said we had no additional charges. Have you seen the bill on my counter? No. We have $50+ dollars in installation. Then the girl isn't even looking at October. Hold on. Actually, she isn't even in the right address.

Deep breaths.

So we don't have any bills yet. I know, that blue slip of paper sitting on my kitchen counter? Imaginary! This means she can't see the installation charges and can't credit us any installation charges... There's about a 2 week lag in bills getting from the cable guy to the billing people (note: proves incompetence, for sure). I can call back when we get the bill with the installation charges that were for a useless installation of internet & cable. AWESOME.

Fun conversation:
ICE, "Where's your service?" (Note, I entered a 202 number, that's the service area about a mile away from us.)
Me, "Northern VA."
ICE, "Where?"
Me, internal dialogue: I entered 202, which is A MILE AWAY, and you don't understand "Northern Virginia?"
Me, external dialogue: "Arlington, VA"
ICE, "You need to call the Arlington number, 703 841 7700."
Me, "So should I just stop calling the 1-800 number?"
ICE, "Yes."

Calling the Arlington number to confirm that the 781 number is associated with the account, the girl (named Patience, funny enough) gives me a different phone number we should call 703 730 2225. Note that this is different from the number that shows up on the TV when the service goes out, which is 703 823 3000.

Huh.

Please visit an excellent website to take your mind off of Comcast FAIL. And put it on other FAIL: http://failblog.org/ KTHNXBAI

Two more parts of today's Comcast-drama

2008-10-09T22:45:00.000Z

Our cable went out again tonight. Settop not authorized for use. AGAIN??? The TV was just working. Thank god I got to watch The Office. And somehow I got through fairly quickly. So this girl asks if the internet is working.
Nope. Nope nope nope.
I might have actually laughed, because we haven't found a single person who can solve internet.Then she says, oh there's a note that says they were having trouble getting into the boiler room. I'm trying to figure out if that was from Tuesday or from when I told them they needed to call the property management people for tomorrow. I'm thinking, oh no. If it's from Tuesday, we seriously have a problem.

Interlude: Comcast had been calling all day. I talked to them at one point, figure out that they were calling to sort out the appointment for tomorrow. Then they kept calling. And then they started PRANK CALLING. Because they would call, I would answer, and then no one would be there. Hello? Hello, Comcast? NOT OK. So I called back, thinking this could be on account of the people who have been scanning blogs. And I wait on hold a couple times with little patience for a person. Finally, a person! In Florida? She told me to call back using the same number and the same prompt I just pressed into the phone. Press 2 for Northern Virginia. Well geez, I thought that's where I was. Fine, I'll call back because she can't transfer me. OK. Take 2. Same number. Press 2 for Northern Virginia. Get a girl in Ohio. Uh, good place for the election, I say. She says, if it goes the way I want it to. I think the same thing. But I don't ask which way that is. (OBAMA-BIDEN 08!) Anyway, apparently they'd been prank calling me all day to re-confirm the appointment for tomorrow they confirmed this morning. Along with the phone lines being crossed at Comcast, maybe the brain lines are crossed as well, since no one seemed to remove the confirmation from their list.
Fine. Back to patiently waiting for tomorrow and missing work to get internet tomorrow night. Fine.

TO BE CONTINUED...
(Yeah, like a double episode of Dawson's Creek or something.)

Pumpkin Bread

2008-10-09T22:00:00.000Z

It's coming...
(1) Need to buy a pumpkin
(2) Or two
(3) And make pumpkin bread
(4) And pumpkin pie
(5) And apple pie (note: buy apples too)
(6) Delicious!

And yeah, I will post the recipe for the pumpkin bread as soon as I make some first this season. But it is the best.

Smash it with a hammer...

2008-10-09T17:05:00.004Z

And here's the clip:

Reading my blog because of the Comcast drama? Post your crazy stories in the comments. Comcast is viewing the blog (SO WEIRD) so here's to letting them know how you feel!

It's NOT Comcastic!

2008-10-08T21:42:00.006Z

God, I hate Comcast. Today I wished I had the cojones of this lady. Or maybe I'll put Comcast in a box, and put that box in another box, and mail it to myself, and when it gets here I'll smash it with a hammer! (Yes, Emperor's New Groove is an excellent movie.)

I sort of don't know where to begin. Let me start this way: I FUCKING HATE COMCAST!
So yesterday, the Comcast guy came by to install our cable and internet at the new place. Where I can't get Verizon or DirecTV or anything else that is NOT Comcast. And when he left our tv was working and about an hour later our internet was *almost* working. As in, I couldn't download "Comcastinstallwizard.dmg" and get online. Even though the signal from our Airport was clearly getting to the computer, then Comcast sets up this block to it. When I got home later (as in 9pm), I finally gave in and called. Then SB called. Then I called.

Oh wait, back up. I tried to call. When I pressed the button for problem with internet - it went to Comcast's closed sales department. So I decided there was a problem with the cable (astounding foresight here, also, too) and then had my call transferred to a nice girl who was a little baffled but seemed to be genuinely trying to help me out. Then she put me on hold. Never let them put you on hold, because apparently that means, "I'm going to try to put you on hold, but I work for Comcast and thus am just not the most intelligent guy/gal out there (feeling Joe-Six-Pack), so when I try to put you on hold, what I'm actually going to do is accidentally disconnect you.

CRAP.

Call back. Again. Go through Cable. Again. Talk to a moron who schedules an appointment for Thursday, 3-6. Not like I didn't already take a morning off of work.

AWESOME. We're gonna call back again. And by we, I mean this time SB decides he's going to try to get through too. Bon Chance! Oh disconnection. Finally I get to this other woman. Things are humming along - look! we've discovered you have 2 accounts! one of them is for your old address? oh dear, we made an appointment there? you don't have phone service anymore?

Aiiiii, and then this happens: Random man's voice: "Whoa. That was cool."
Woman on the phone: "So my computer just froze up."
Me, in disbelief: "Can you transfer me to someone."
Increasingly incompetent Comcast employee: "No, you'll have to call back."

For the love of Pete. Seriously? Your computer freezes and I have to navigate through your phone line to another incompetent Comcast employee [ICE]? GAAAAAH.

After some more time on hold, when this time I try, "I don't doubt that you can help me, but I've been on the phone for 2 hours and can I speak with a supervisor?" (Apparently not.)
And truth, this guy actually asks what the IP address is and some other stuff, but then says, "Well, someone's in your account."

YEAH. Because her computer CRASHED. "Can you have someone override that?"

Guess what he said? "No."
But, he did "escalate our ticket" and told me we'd have internet in the morning.

Flash forward 7 hours.

I can download the install wizard! YAY!
I have no internet connectivity upon set-up! BOO!
Our cable's out too! WHAT THE FUCK?????????

Next phone call to Comcast: So our cable is now out and they said it would be on this morning.
Solution: We'll send a technician. Monday.
Me: Various innapropriate curse words in my head.... Well. Can you at least credit us the installation fee?
ICE: Did they install the cable?
Me: Cursing in my head. Yes, but it hasn't worked yet.
ICE: Well they already installed it. Did you sign when the technician left?
Me: *@#*&%@$(*^@

Then I called from work. And tried to use a cell number as the account number. And called Boston's Comcast office. He gave me Alexandria's office.
Sort of. Apparently, a national call center. The guy there is able to make me an appointment Friday afternoon (I should never have given up Thursday lost wages) because I'm not home to tell him what lights are on on the modem and *brief interlude for immaturity* says, "If I do that it will end up burning our your box." Ha. Moment over. But refuses to take the number to call the property management to access our boiler rooms. And tries to tell me that regardless of what I'm reading to him verbatim that says Comcast itself must call, I need to call.

Halas.

I call back. Reach someone. And am immediately disconnected.

Last call of the morning. In which I reach a nearly brand new ICE with particularly bad English.
2 minutes in, he asks me if I'm having a good day. Well, no. But you're always supposed to say yes to those questions. I tell him I'm calling to give him the number for this... Then he says, I kid you not, ICE says: "Well, I see you have cable and internet. Are you interested in getting phone service too?"

What? NO! NO NO NO NO NO!

Ohmigod! If one more ICE says to me, "Thank you for choosing Comcast" I really might get down with grandma hammer. I have a lot of tools in our closet.

Things I've learned from my mom

2008-09-12T21:58:00.002Z

Yeah, I know, I said I'd write about the goings on in my kitchen, but the little kitchen is filthy and crowded and for some reason I stuck all the good baking stuff in places I can't reach... So I just haven't done much lately outside of the chocolate chip cookie bars from my favorite cookbook. Note to self: bake for this weekend...

Anyway, here's a snapshot of one of my mom's helpful hints. For preventing identity theft?

Scenario - in the car, on the highway, my mom might be driving
Me: What are you doing?
Mom: Protecting my identity. (She's tossing something out the window from a plastic bag in the cup holder.)
Me: What...?
Mom: Just getting rid of my old credit cards.
Me: Can't you just cut it into tiny pieces?
Mom: There are some things you flush down the toilet, some you burn, and some you cut into tiny pieces and throw out the window as you drive down the highway.

WOW. Mom. Taking some things a little too far?

Instruments of Torture?

2008-09-04T19:15:00.005Z

This morning in front of my bathroom mirror as I attempted to prettify (post new bottle of Olay SPF 15, thanks Costco) by sliding on some mascara, it happened again.

That's right, I think I'm developing another rogue eyelash.

What in the world is a rogue eyelash, you ask, and why is it such a big deal?

Well, the slightly gross answer is that sometimes my eyelashes curl downwards, like, at my eyeball, leading to uncomfortable situations. (And slightly unsightly ones too, as it starts to look like I've been crying one-eyed due to the excessive blinking and irritation caused by an eyelash POKING YOU IN THE EYEBALL!) This also results in midday trips to the eye doctor to "have my eyelash pulled out," apparently not a rare occurrence for eye doctors...

Anyway, I guess I need one of these:
And no, it's not really an instrument of torture, just an eyelash curler, but I think I need a girly girl to teach me how to use it and not accidentally tear out all of the eyelashes, although that would solve the rogue problem right quick.

This will never work here (or there...)

2008-08-28T18:37:00.001Z

Starbucks is my frenemy. I think their coffee tastes like that nasty bitter stuff the dentist puts on your teeth when he's filling a cavity, but I heart their iced tea lemonades, and truthfully, I order a "Venti iced passion tea lemonade unsweetened." Yup, Starbucks snobbery right there folks.

But Starbucks is trying to change the whole idea that their coffee is roasted to burning in piss, by using the "Clover," which essentially grinds the beans, brews them, and then extracts them to make a perfect cup of coffee. Apparently this "brings coffee back into focus*" because:
Vacuum-press technology pulls the coffee through a 70-micron filter in which "every hole is like a hair's breadth," said David Latourell, formerly of Coffee Equipment Co. and now a Starbucks employee
Read it

Anyway, in addition to this new technology, if you want a better cup of coffee, you're going to have to pay up. I understand this, but also, I don't. Starbucks is about class and snob and coffee. Suddenly it's like, well you can have shitty coffee or you can have better coffee? People are still going to take the shitty one because (1) they don't understand what better coffee tastes like and (2) they're cheap bastards. If you want tasty coffee, you probably aren't visiting Starbucks anyway.
(And did you read Fast Food Nation? (Book, not movie.) There's this whole thing about taste & quality being mediocre because it's a fast food chain, and I guess I should find that part of the book to back up this post....)

But, honestly, I digress. What I meant to say is why this isn't working in BOSTON. Why the Starbucks/Dunkins competition is non-existent. Here's the thing: in Boston, you have 2 different breeds of coffee drinkers. Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. They don't really cross. The population of Dunkins drinkers (lahge regulah, I'm not saying they have sophisticated palates necessarily either) are not the type to seek out Starbucks, sit down & pay for internet & listen to music, etc...

My point? There's Dunkin Donuts and there's Starbucks. Boston is not the place for Starbucks to try to get converts to their "better" coffee because the clilentel of the two stores differs not based on taste preference (though, obviously, somewhat) but based on class/appearance/and the need to sit on a couch. People going for taste are the indepent store drinkers, and damn you Starbucks if you try to ruin little business (though Taylor Clark proves the opposite in Starbucked, I know I know).

*OK, but you're a coffee shop, coffee is supposed to be the focus.....

Photos /Updates

2008-07-22T14:45:00.004Z

Update: My camera is being returned and was repaired under the warranty! YAY! So more baking & photos to come. Maybe I'll make something special for the occasion. Can you say birthday cake? (Does anyone have a birthday coming up?)

But I survived without a camera, and Ginny took some awesome photos of us at the Muddy Buddy.
Here are some links: Official Race Photos and Ginny's photos on my Picasa
And here are some highlights:

Nothing's great in Bangladesh

2008-07-15T16:53:00.002Z

It's all just plain decent.

The cake I made the other day was more than decent even though it was a little wobbly.

And the Muddy Buddy was sooo way more than decent. I'd said we raced decently, definitely need to practice that mountain biking.

And my camera being broken? So entirely INDECENT.

Odds & Ends

2008-07-09T14:01:00.003Z

Odds:
“Cooking is 80% confidence, a skill best acquired from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.” -Barbara Kingsolver from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I thought was a pretty awesome book

NY Times's chocolate chip cookie article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
I still have frozen cookie bars in the freezer (duh), but now I think there are ways to make them even better. I'm now baking a cake this weekend for our office bake-off!

End: I broke my camera Tuesday night. ON MY BIRTHDAY. (And no I was not drunk... and the detail on my t-shirt that I couldn't photograph proves that.) I just hate to admit that I was clumsy enough to break it... Gah.
Oh well, on the way back to Canon to be fixed I hope.

(Back of the singlet.)

Icanhaslolcats

2008-06-27T03:42:00.006Z

(Traffik light kitteh sez go!)
Because who doesn't love an LOLcat?

Boys like cookies

2008-06-27T03:21:00.006Z

And girls like cornbread.

Uhhh, what? So, no, no strange social commentary or anything, just:
Last Thursday I did a LOT of baking. There were also 2 boys in the house who ate a lot of the finished (and unfinished) product....

1. Oatmeal almond lace cookies via Cooking Light

2. Oatmeal scotchies via the butterscotch chip bag

Interlude: The mess, post-cookie. (And I actually cleaned it all myself after!)

3. Cornbread WAFFLES!
OK, these were really awesome. Basically I mixed up cornbread batter and poured it on the waffle iron. They looked almost exactly like waffles (I used white cornmeal) but didn't crisp up. The nice part of that was that when we had them for our potluck lunch the next day they hadn't lost crispness because it never existed in the first place! Whoo-hoo. Also, we had some excellent salads, vegetarian chili, and brownies with the cornbread and cookies. (We need a repeat.)

But again, the cornbread was totally totally awesome. :)

Foggy Bottom Fresh Farm Market

2008-06-19T10:51:00.009Z

a.k.a. I heart tomatoes!

I walked over to the Foggy Bottom farmer's market after work yesterday. I think I've said it before in this blog, but I'll say it again - the French bakery is AMAZING!

After this Gatorade, breakfast is hot coffee and a chocolate croissant.

I also got some delicious (but "Ugly") tomatoes. Well tomatoes, I don't care what you look like, I love ya. SB & I ate through about 4 tomatoes last night before dinner.

And! I got pretty sunflowers. They're in a vase on the counter next to these bell flowers I got at the Courthouse market on Saturday - where I also bought (finally!) a pineapple sage plant.

That's Not What I'd Call MY Store, But...

2008-06-01T23:48:00.010Z

So Ben* in his round the world travels, sent me this photo, in an email titled "World Campaign":
It's not what I'd name my bakery, because who really wants pastry that's just decent? I much prefer sweet, flaky, gooey, etc to decent when I talk about pastry.

BUT. After reading this article from the Washington Post, I decided I needed to find a good word to become viral. And that word was DECENT.

Decent
Main Entry: de·cent
Pronunciation: \ˈdē-s^ənt\

Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin decent-, decens, present participle of decēre to be fitting; akin to Latin decus honor, dignus worthy, Greek dokein to seem, seem good
Date: 1539

1. archaic a: appropriate b: well-formed : handsome
2 a: conforming to standards of propriety, good taste, or morality "decent behavior" b: modestly clothed
3: free from immodesty or obscenity "decent language"
4: fairly good : adequate, satisfactory "decent wages"
5: marked by moral integrity, kindness, and good will

hard-working and

decent folks" "

it's very decent of them to help"

synonyms see chaste

— de·cent·ly adverb

I'm going to say my use of decent would be definition 4 or 5, possibly with a little more emphasis on fairly good. When I say decent, I say it bolded and in italics, like this, "That was some pretty decent baseball we just watched, guys."

For the ladies, one #46, Jacoby Ellsbury, getting on base:

Anyway, apparently it is getting viral, because Decent Pastry is keeping it real in Bangladesh. The real question is, how were those pastries? Decent?

Update, in fact - Ben says:

we went in there, basically to steal AC

and it was, in fact, totally decent.

not outstanding. a little pricey. not too too much variety. all in all, decent.

*Ben's blog, for more on round the world travels, is here: www.bengaddy.com/blog

Gettin' Busy

2008-05-23T02:28:00.003Z

We're going to the beach this weekend!!!
So of course I am baking cookies for the trip. It's been a busy week, lots of baking, but that's fun.
Tonight I made chocolate chip from the King Arthur Cookie Companion, which is an awesome cookbook, and tomorrow the plan is oatmeal scotchies, but I need to buy more flour, sugar, and brown sugar first.
Cookie dough & my cookie scoop:

Here are the cookies baking:

We're not ready for disaster:

I like how that last photo turned out, with the newspaper headline. :)
And finally, a few shots of the super rhubarb pie, thanks farmer's market!

Rhubarb Pies!

2008-05-20T02:34:00.005Z

Last week, post trailer loading for Stotesbury (which went not so hot for my little mosquitoes), I went to the farmer's market at Foggy Bottom. (1) I got a pain au chocolat from the French bakery, (2) I learned that I can still understand French pretty well - apparently these pastries are like you bought them in France - too bad I can't really speak it anymore, and (3) I bought two bunches of rhubarb (expensive at $4/bunch, considering my mom steals hers).

My cousin & I holding a pitcher & glass from "Cousins" - in Philly Thursday night, if you look close enough, that's the city glowing in the background

Unfortunately, I was in Philly from Thursday - Saturday night and Sunday spent a few more hours with rowers, so rhubarb sat in the fridge until tonight. Then after my nap, because I napped instead of running, clearly still exhausted from the weekend, I finally got into the kitchen and made a hell of a mess. But the result was this super-awesome rhubarb pie. The crust is perfectly flaky, and the rhubarb is tart and gooey. Sadly, the photos of the pie cannot do the taste justice, but I'll add them later anyway. It went quite well with vanilla ice cream too. And, if only I had more steps today, I'd have another piece... Goals = running Tuesday morning. Right...

More Birthdays (from March)

2008-05-13T02:59:00.004Z

Dear Shamus,
Happy Belated Birthday to You! Except that you got this cake on your birthday (or a little before)... And the photos were MIA until now. I finally re-found this excellent brownie recipe that makes a wonderful ice cream cake. The recipe is still stuck on the side of the fridge, and I think about the awesomeness all the time. I need a good reason to make another.

Anyway, this was a fro-yo cake, with mint oreo in the middle. The star-sprinkle S and the Happy Birthday Candles really make it pretty spectacular. So does the amount of chocolate involved, and the gooey condensed milk icing. Basically, this would be a signature cake of my imaginary bakery.

Side-view, cake-tastic

These candles are bananas

And, sugar coma, go!

Wish you were here...

2008-05-13T01:02:00.020Z

So, you wish you were here, swimming in the fishbowl of my kitchen year after year.

If you've never been a roommate, boyfriend, rower, coworker, brother, parent, or a Sean to me, right now you wish you could get into that position. I'd say coworker is the only available space right now, soon to be classmate I suppose. (And I anticpate testimonials in these comments from said roommates, boyfriends, rowers, coworkers, brother, parents, and Sean. So at least from my mom.)

Because, this is what I've been up to:

Birthday cupcakes:

I got a "cupcake decorating kit" the last time I was at Target, so I spent some time playing with it and making flowers/stars on the top.

Before you get too blown away by my stupendous skills:
(1) It was funfetti cake mix
(2) And rainbow chip icing, so baking skills were minimal there.
Anyway, Sean still doesn't have these cupcakes for a variety of reasons. Don't blame me, blame Radiohead being at Nissan Sunday night. (Hold on, we could could put a lot of blame on Nissan, but I made it in to see the show, so I'll just say it was wet, but AWESOME!!!!!)

Molasses cookies (!!!!)

In my baby's first big jump into the pool of life, she cannonballed in with some very serious molasses cookies. By serious, I mean seriously delicious. Now that I can actually cream the butter & sugar, the cookie is so much better - and so is my wrist. Plus, I bought a cookie scoop and that makes stuff way easier too! I am now about 2 steps closer to opening a bakery I think. Whole lot of good this next degree would do me then.

So, many more tricks & treats where these came from, since I bought a lot of butter today and have chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in the cupboard.

And pizza
With some props to Trader Joe's for the dough & cheese, and to Paul Newman for the sauce, but courtesy of my oven... This one actually turned out round and pretty, with some bubbles forming under the crust (and I for one love pizza bubbles). Not a thin crust this time, but crispy, and good nonetheless.

My Baby

2008-05-12T23:07:00.006Z

Here are some shots of my new baby! Isn't she beautiful? We wish we could spend all our time together, but sadly work and life and some semblance of restraint in terms of how much butter I consume keep us apart.

So that was the big news, she came in the mail last week, thanks to Amazon! And UPS has been coming straight to our door instead of delivering through the apartment office, which is awesome, because our apartment office sucks big time. Anyway, this is excellent news and a welcome addition to the family. (She hangs out with the wine rack & the electric kettle all day. Can you see how I need a bigger kitchen?)

Get ready life, stand mixer coming at ya!

not food, just food for thought

2008-05-07T01:52:00.002Z

I read this piece from the Washington Post about yoga for soldiers at Walter Reed, to help them cope with PTSD. The sad reality of it is that so many soldiers are coming back in need of serious mental health care, and they are not receiving what they need. Very obviously, the country that sent them to war is failing them. I wish I was more altruistic (and/or a yoga teacher) that I could get a degree in social work and take the time to help these people, but... I just wouldn't be good at it. The altruism, yes, I may have that in me. The compassion and empathy that is needed to be a good therapist and listener... Well, let's just say that I never want to get angry enough at the kids I coach to make them cry, because then I'd have to deal with them crying. And YUCK. :)

Then again, regardless of how much you want to help, it doesn't mean that the government wants to spend the money for you to do that. Just to make it necessary for someone to help.

I guess what's also interesting is that across from our office this morning there were some Code Pink protesters - 2 women & a man, and as I walked into work, the cops showed up (somehow just 1 car - I thought they always had 2) but they couldn't really do anything, because outside of yelling into a bullhorn, they were being peaceful.
"You're in bed with George W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi... Call your congressmen." Etc.

I'm guessing someone kind of important lives in the Washington Harbor building though, it would explain the black SUVs that hand out there every so often.

And, ok, food. Big news ahead... BIG BIG BIG F'ING NEWS soon. ;)

Quick Bites

2008-04-29T01:28:00.006Z

Yeah, so my hand is falling off (ouch) and I have not been in the kitchen as much as I'd like.
However, I took a great photo the other day when I was getting crafty over the stove
Mmm rice krispie treats. I've been convincing myself that these are moderately healthy, since it's mostly cereal. I wonder if they're gluten free for Laura.

But then, let's back up to April's trip to Boston:
Anna & I again had a business dinner (this one not so fancy) and again had a fun waiter - who was also really interested in my Josh Ritter t-shirt because (1) it's super cool and (2) apparently a lot of people come into the restaurant wearing it.

Anyway, here's the "you look like you're on vacation" photo:
And here's a photo of my dinner, since it's sort of obscured in the one above two points on this again (1) I saw someone else eating this and wanted it (2) the waiter recommended it:
(Yes, my tofu, in a pineapple!)

And the most important part of the trip came on the way home (before being stuck in the airport for hours, spilling a smoothie on the floor, and having the zipper pulls broken off of my suitcase) - yes, that's me with an enormous cup of dunkin's coffee... OK, it's not a real cup of coffee, but imagine if it was!!!! (Also, repping the Tribe pride here.)

Eating in Nola

2008-02-28T15:39:00.011Z

I took my first trip to New Orleans ever this week (a few weeks ago... life has been busy - this was at the end of Feb). We went down for a conference and it was so much fun (the city, not the conference so much). Our hotel was pretty close to the French Quarter and we did A LOT of walking around that area, in flip flops! The weather was spectacular too, a nice change from the pretty gross wintry mixes we had last week.

So Saturday night we get to the city after a long layover plus delay in Atlanta, check into the hotel, and head out for some dinner etc. Walk around Bourbon Street, take photos, be tourists, the whole bit. Haven't done the tourist thing in a while.

Sunday morning setting up for the conference we just chilled at Starbucks & saw the *cutest puppy ever*! Got a great tip from one of the conference organizers and checked out Cafe Du Monde for beignets & hot chocolate & more powdered sugar than you could comprehend.

On Monday (on Sean's suggestion - and he loves my baking, so could he go wrong?) we went to Nola - Emeril's restaurant. Food was yummy and then we got dessert. Oh, that was a good idea!
This photo is us with our desserts (Emeril's the guy in the photo with crawfish).

And there was this really yummy deli (Welty's) right next to our hotel that was lunch on Monday & Tuesday, if you're ever over there....

Plus, we wandered into this really neat store (themaskstore.com).... Photos = awesome!

Go Oft Astray!

2008-02-20T00:15:00.006Z

I was really excited to make this cherry pie with heart cut-outs in the crust for Valentine's Day. I mean, perfect combination of bright red fruit & hearts, too bad I find out that SB claims he doesn't like fruit pies! (Back to the drawing board - or is that the ice cream cake?)

But first, I absolutely failed to find tart cherries.
Giant had - cherry pie filling, light cherry pie filling, and sweet dark frozen cherries. Guess what I chose? (And defrosted?)

And of course, sweet dark frozen cherries never ever had a bright red color. Luckily I dug up a sweet cherries pie recipe, cut down on the sugar, and added lemon juice (along with almond extract and cornstarch*).

Oh yeah, and about the trip to Target the night before Valentine's Day in search of a heart-shaped cookie cutter? I don't recommend.

But, the crust of this pie actually turned out pretty fabulous. Plus I managed to cut out some hearts, roll the top crust around my rolling pin to lay out on the pie, crimp the edges with a fork, AND brush with an egg wash.

End result:

Isn't it pretty? Now, if only someone liked fruit pies.
Instead he suggests that I make them and sell them.
This is not a bad idea - but... It's not like I live in a fabulous kitchen with a fabulous one of these to cook with. Anyway, if someone can suggest a coffee shop/failing bakery in need of goodies... I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve.

*Cornstarch - main ingredient in oobleck. Which I once made with my 2 year old brother & thought it would be an awesome idea to make green oobleck. With green food coloring. Yeah, that turned into bath time quite quickly. (Mom, did you already know about that?)

Of Mice and Men...

2008-02-20T00:08:00.006Z

Things that have been cooked up recently by me:

White Cornbread (quick, easy, awesome)

This was pretty fun to realize it's so easy to make. I overcooked the bottom a little while attempting to get the top to turn golden brown. But, duh, it's WHITE cornmeal and that wasn't going to happen...

Apple pie numero dos

And not by me:

But it's a heart shaped chocolate cake! With sprinkles.
Excellent for Valentine's Day at work.

The best laid plans...

2008-02-13T16:55:00.006Z

Oh! This girl just had a perfect idea, courtesy of the pie at Baked & Wired yesterday.
While it looks like this can't be found on short notice:
Then these certainly can:
Will definitely be night kitchening tonight, pre PR.

Chaider to the Masses

2008-01-23T00:02:00.000Z

Since it's still cold, let me introduce you to "Chaider," which is exactly what it sounds like: chai + hot cider. Oh deliciousness! Thank you, Coastal Roasters, for the neat little Chaider discovery. (Coastal Roasters is essentially the coffee shop in Tiverton. Mom, I need another pound of coffee ps.)

Recently I've tried to convert local places like Baked & Wired and Greenberry's. Sadly, Greenberry's doesn't have chai tea. Which is weird... But Baked & Wired really made my day a few weeks ago when it was cold and yucky and their chaider? It was pretty boss.

I'm considering carrying around chai tea bags just in case I'm in a hot cider bind.

$10 is less than 3 Starbucks lattes...

2008-01-16T21:52:00.000Z

H E L P U S W I N A $5 0 , 0 0 0 G R A N T !

Hands on DC is participating in America's Giving Challenge, presented by the Case Foundation and Parade magazine. The four US-focused charities that receive the most unique donors through their badge by January 31 will receive $50,000 for their cause. We just entered the challenge and are off to a great start. We need your help!!

The charities with the most unique donations (not most money) wins, so all we need is a $10 donation. Please donate now (click "Donate" on the left) and encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to donate as well. We are proud to represent the great volunteers of Washington, DC, in this competition, and we will work hard to win this $50,000 grant for our district's children.

That's me painting a sweet mural of the memorials last year. (http://handsondc.org to find out what it's all about.)

Lemon Cookies

2007-12-19T14:58:00.001Z

You're probably thinking "How is it possible that it's almost Christmas & I haven't written about cookies???" I am too, honestly. But I have an answer to that question.

Tomorrow night we're making a batch of lemon drop cookies. Someone (me) got a little excited on Sunday and bought lemons and sprinkles before waiting to hear the news from a certain hand surgeon.

I am currently out of cooking commission (out of any commission but holding a coffee cup sort of) due to a steroid injection in my wrist*, so tomorrow I'm bringing in reinforcements to help bake.

1) I'll survive, I've made it this far with the wrist problem, and maybe the steroids will make it go away
2) The image in your head should be me in the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by ingredients, and crying because I can't cook with them........

OK, too much typing for this little wristy. Photos of my cookies later. :)

*Not just any wrist, my right wrist! I've been driving lefty, drinking lefty, mousing lefty (NOT drinking & driving lefty obvs). It's hard!

Having kitten for Thanksgiving...

2007-11-26T19:33:00.000Z

So, does anyone want my cats? They made an excellent alarm clock at 4am, 5am, 6am... by trying to head butt their way into the bedroom door. Also, after spending last week with with the kitten, they are serious FATTIES! Cats on a diet from now on I guess.
But enough about the fuzz, onto the eating!

I actually managed to cook very little, making a delicious batch of mac & cheese Wednesday night, then rolling through 2 dinners on Thursday, where I proceeded to not make popovers, cranberry cake, or any pies. (Although I watched an apple pie get baked on Wednesday.) Friday night we made molasses cookies, and somehow they were just too buttery. And I'm all for butter, but the flavor of the cookie was lost. No worries, we still ate them. I also managed to not make popovers again (used up all the eggs in cookies) on Friday night.
Saturday was a trip to Burdick's for some of these and this and these (had two in my purse this morning). Saturday night I did concoct roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice and cranberries and covered in delicious delicious cheese. Also, put the leftover half into my back pack, brought it on the plane, and took it home. Dinner tonight? And Sunday I again managed to not make cranberry cake. Whoops. It's so tasty though!

Give Thanks for Free Rice

2007-11-20T17:14:00.001Z

Some serious kitchen time coming up this week. I think I've been enlisted to make pies tomorrow, since I will be the only one home most of the day. I have to look for quince pie recipes, but right now I just feel like taking a bath in cranberries or something. :) And a nap too.

There will be some serious eating of course, especially because SB & I have been talented enough to get 2 Thanksgiving (and Christmas) dinners for the past few years.
And also I'm going to run (well, hopefully)...

But now to the PSA, if you are having even just one Thanksgiving dinner, go to Free Rice and build your vocabulary skills while you donate grains of rice. If you've been living in a cardboard box for the past few weeks and haven't heard of Free Rice STOP READING THIS AND GO NOW!

Mmm Perfect Molasses Cookies

2007-11-17T18:56:00.001Z

Again, from my lovely King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, best ever molasses cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (and extra for coating the dough before baking - I've been using demerara sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350° - grease or parchment cookie sheets
1. Cream butter & sugar, add molasses while mixing at a slow speed, then add baking soda, salt, spices. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then stir in flour.
Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Shape/scoop the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, roll them in sugar and put on cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on pan for 10 minutes before cooling completely on racks.
(Corners will be soft & puffy, if the bottoms can lift off the pan without braking they can come out of the oven.)
4. EAT :)

Ahhh, these are the best. If there were eggs and sugar in the house right now I would totally bake them!

These would be good with this...

2007-11-13T19:46:00.001Z

Photos from early thanksgiving dinner:

1. Pumpkin pie with gingersnap & pecan crust

2. A slice of pumpkin
3. What cranberry-mystery cake looks like when it's done

4. Sort of like an upside down cake, check out the crimped edges that resulted from using parchment as a lining

5. Slice of cranberry cake

And those would be delicious with this:
Hot Chocolate
(Note to self, visit 1 or more of these places when home for Thanksgiving.)

Recipe - Brownies

2007-11-12T18:52:00.000Z

This is my go-to brownie recipe. It requires 1 bowl or saucepan, one measuring cup and 1 or 2 measuring spoons... If it were any easier it would come out of a box. And speaking of brownies from the box, if you add a cup of chocolate chips and a cup of chopped nuts and no one has to know they're from a box. Yeah, it's that easy to get away with.

And this is my kind of brownie pan: http://www.bakersedge.com/

From King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: Fudgy Brownies

Yield: Two dozen 2-inch brownies

Baking temperature: 325 degrees
Baking time: 29 to 32 minutes

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
2 cups (14 ounces) sugar - I use: I cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup white sugar, but again, I tend to find these too sweet
1 cup (4 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup (4-1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips (optional)
1-2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, if you have it on hand adds a little something

In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugars and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (about 110 degrees to 120 degrees), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla (and espresso powder if you use it). Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth; then add the flour and optional nuts and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan.

Bake the brownies in a preheated 325-degree oven for 29 to 32 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a tiny amount of crumb clinging to it. The edges of the brownies should be set, but the middle still soft. Remove the brownies from the oven, and cool them completely before cutting and serving.

Recipe - Cranberry Mystery Cake

2007-11-12T17:49:00.000Z

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
-
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
3/4 - 1 cup sugar*
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated orange rind
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Chop cranberries and walnuts, mix with 1/2 c sugar and cinnamon
2. Press into bottom of parchment line pie plate or 8-9 inch cake pan
3. Beat eggs
4. Mix in melted butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, extracts and orange rind
5. Pour over cranberry mixture and spread evenly
6. Bake for 40 mins until top is golden brown
7. Turn upside down onto plate

*1 cup sugar makes a really sweet cake, use a little less depending on the level of your sweet tooth

Boy Brownies

2007-11-09T00:36:00.000Z

Why? Because boys love them.

I made these tonight for my friend Sean, who would probably rather have molasses cookies, but I didn't feel like getting cookie dough all over the tape that's taking care of my wrist. Not like he's really unlucky in getting a batch of brownies. Besides, I would have kept a lot of those molasses cookies for myself, they are the best!

Adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, the major change is that I include a little instant espresso powder, change a cup of sugar to brown sugar, and decrease the white sugar by just a little, also have been using "special dark" cocoa powder, so they're really triple chocolate brownies, sometimes have nuts too.

Cranberries and pumpkins and walnuts OH MY!

2007-11-08T04:04:00.000Z

I got crafty tonight and made a few things which have a very very thanksgiving flavor.

1. Cranberry cake - this recipe was really unassuming, in fact, I almost didn't make it because the recipe just seemed off. For instance, there's no leavening. I'd make a few changes, but from here on, it's officially Cranberry mystery cake.For some reason all of the walnuts went to one corner...
This makes a good sticky sweet dessert. Could cut down on the sugar and add a little orange to accent the cranberries.
Does look mysterious, doesn't it?

2. Cranberry pumpkin bread
I'm saving my whole pumpkin for a very special pie this weekend (which might also include cranberries and walnuts), so I admit I used canned. And I don't like the results in pumpkin bread. (This would be try two at pumpkin bread with canned pumpkin, and it's not as moist and doesn't get the right flavor. Frustrating!)
Still pretty good though, the orange zest makes it nicer.

Tomorrow night might be brownies!

My First Pie

2007-11-08T03:48:00.001Z

This is my first pie*

We went apple picking in September and this was the result...

And it was delicious!

*I had to buy a rolling pin to make this one, and it's the first pie that I made not at my parent's house, so no supervision from mom.

My New Blog

2007-11-08T03:46:00.000Z

Yup, I've started a new blog, and it's going to be all about the things I do in my kitchen. I'm just going to start putting up photos and recipes. Wish you could taste through the internet. :)