I feel like we need to catch up. Where has time been flying, these days?
Me, I’ve been flying to Philadelphia. There, I ate hoagies and had an IHOP date with my dad.
And I made an appearance on a morning show! (Thanks, Fox 29!) I also bought butter cookies (with extra sprinkles) at the Ardmore Farmer’s market, but didn’t make it to Rita’s for water ice. Next time.
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What do you do on a bumpy plane ride?
I’ll tell you what I don’t do. I definitely don’t freak out. I do NOT insist on staring out the window while counting slowly to one hundred in my head. And by no means do I start listening to Will Smith songs because of the comfort that knowing 100% of the words to “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” brings.
That just doesn’t sound like me.
(But you gotta, Prada, bag with a lotta, stuff in it, give it to your friend let’s spin…)
#whateverittakes
I’m on my way to Philadelphia! To see my parents and do a little book promoting. I’m excited to chat up Sheet Pan Suppers and also tell everyone I come in contact with about the little veggie garden we planted in our backyard last weekend. Look at this!
It’s growing real, actual vegetables! Butter lettuce, spinach, sweet peas, onions and beets! Also some strawberries, raspberries and chives. I’ve never had my own garden before, but last year Ben and I managed to kill every single one of our apartment-sized potted plants, so here’s hoping things are on the up and up for us, green-thumb-wise.
But what am I saying? You guys are here for the cookies, no? Let’s talk about madeleines! I broke in my madeleine pan with these bad boys. (If you don’t have one, not to worry – you can bake these in a muffin tin instead – they won’t have the same shape, obviously, but they’ll be just as delicious.)
I loosely followed Daniel Boulud’s recipe, the one that was published in Bon Appetit a few months ago, and it seems the man knows his madeleines. These are infused with browned butter and orange zest, and they’re soft, cakey and just perfect with a cup of hot coffee or tea. Their one downfall is that they depreciate quickly, losing their light, fluffy texture after just one day at room temperature, but the good news? I found the solution.
…Now excuse me while I eat every single one.
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I’ve been so preoccupied with dealing with all of the boxes in our house (the boxes, my god, the boxes! Let it be known that moving is just a lesson in setting up/breaking down boxes,) and lamenting the fact that, due to said boxes (and the chaotic state of our new home, in general), it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to pull off a Seder for Passover this year, I almost forgot that it’s Easter weekend, too!
(#Jew…ish.)
My lovely in-laws are hosting Easter on Sunday and, because they know what’s what, they’ve put me in charge of dessert. I had big plans to make Deb’s raspberry macaroons and maybe even a flourless chocolate cake in a nod to the (begrudgingly neglected, by me) Passover holiday, but then I saw these little munchkins on Martha Stewart’s instagram and that was that.
I mean, HOW CUTE are these guys?
The facts: they only use 4 ingredients (plus a bit of chocolate and mini eggs, for decorating). They take less than 30 minutes to bake. They are a bonafide excuse to buy a big bag of miniature chocolate easter eggs.
So WHAT are you waiting for? Easter weekend baking project — begin!
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So I know that Stranger Danger is real and the world wide web can be a pretty scary place, but I have to go on record and say it: internet friends are just really great.
Having a blog is a weird thing. You put things out there in a pretty public way, not knowing who (if anyone) is actually reading your junk (besides your Dad… hi, Dad!), and it can feel so daunting when you consider that there are approximately one bajillion other food blogs out there, but it’s all in the way you look at it, isn’t it? Because on the one hand there are a bajillion other bloggers out there making grapefruit cocktails and what makes YOU so special, anyway? But on the other hand, there are a bajillion other bloggers out there doing what you do, and liking what you like, and writing and cooking and CREATING, and how great a community is that to be a part of?
It’s taken me awhile to find my voice and place in the whole bloggy world (and I’m not entirely convinced I’ve got anything at all figured out), but I’ve absolutely loved getting to know other bloggers throughout the process. Food blogger friends are the Bees Knees. For so many reasons, but mostly because they don’t judge you when you do bizarre things like cut little hearts in your banana bread or give cutesy and redundant names to the muffins you just baked. They make Twitter and Instagram infinitely more interesting, and they don’t even mind when you show up to a party (virtual or otherwise) with a cake that’s missing a slice because you had to photograph it (obvs).
I can’t remember where I first met Emily of The Pig & Quill, but damn if I’m not glad that I did. Girl is one of the funniest and most creative blargers out there, the kind of lady who isn’t afraid to make fried hotdog sandwiches or Hawaiian street corn with SPAM or talk about the trials/tribulations of being a stroller-seeking parent blogger AND vegan chili in the same post. Plus she’s the kind of person who totes loves abbrevs, which I can def appreesh.
And she’s having a baby girl! Who is pretty much guaranteed to be adorable and enjoy pork. So, in honor of this soon-to-be little muffin:
HAPPY SURPRISE BABY SHOWER, EM! Wishing you a happy and healthy little piglet. I made you pink grapefruit sparklers because they’re cute and pink and I wanted to drink one. Also they’re available in both champagne-aholic and nonalcoholic versions, so everyone wins! #champagne.
Check out all of the other #EmsPigletParty goodies here:
Here’s to good buddies of the interwebs. Cheers!
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It rained all weekend here, and I didn’t want it to end. The weekend, I mean, and maybe even the rain. I cozied up with (too many) fat slices of pie and a terrible/awesome line-up of movies on tv (Major League, Footloose, Sister Act… I could go on but I’ve got a rep to protect) – needless to say, it was GREAT.
And now it’s Monday and, I don’t know about you, but I think that sometimes Monday needs a big, juicy fist to the face. So we’re making french toast! In a waffle iron! On a weekday! Take that, Monday.
I’ve been leafing through Dan Shumski’s Will It Waffle? for the past few weeks and, in the matter of classic french toast, I just had to know: would it, indeed, waffle?
The answer is yes, my friends. The answer is YES.
Bonuses to waffling french toast (as opposed to employing the traditional skillet method) include but are not limited to: the elimination of flipping and/or babysitting; extra crispy edges; and, most importantly, the creation of delicious divots for maximum syrup collection.
So not only will it waffle but, indeed, it should. Let’s kick this Monday in the shins with waffled french toast!
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Get ready to pull out all of your best emojis, peeps, because it’s the return of Pie Day Friday!!!!
Except it’s actually PI DAY Friday (in anticipation of tomorrow, March 14th), which is a similar concept, but also pretty different. More numbers. Infinity of them, to be exact. But also more pie!
Which, I think we can all agree, is a good, good thing.
The first time I can remember eating coconut cream pie was in Charleston, South Carolina which, if you’re in the business of eating coconut cream pie, it turns out is a good place to be. It was summertime, a year or so after college and mom, dad, Casey and I (where was middle sis Emily?? Did she opt out or did we forget her? It’s really hard to say) piled into a booth at Jim ‘N Nick’s. Before we paid the check but after we stuffed our faces with thick slices of barbecued brisket (and weren’t really sure we could handle any more), dessert arrived. A single slice of coconut cream pie, billowing with fluffy mounds of custard and cream, as cool and smooth as a southern summer’s day is hot and sticky…
We dug into it and just looked at each other, eyes wide, mouths working. Because THAT was some pie.
This one’s got the same sweet, toasted coconut flavor, the same piles of cooling custard and cream, plus an extra, blond layer of salty caramel, just to sweeten the deal. It’s still a balanced slice, though, because instead of using sweetened coconut, we call for unsweet. (What goes around comes around, as Justin Timberlake said that one time).
If ever a day called for pie, it’s tomorrow. Make this one! 3.14159265359 times. (Give or take a few).
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A few things that have recently blown my mind:
1. The amount of money someone needs, on their actual person, to buy a house. It’s… a lot of dollas. YIKES.
2. The kid who played Jimmy Woods in The Wizard is the SAME KID who played Les in Newsies AND Billy Heywood in Little Big League. THIS GUY’S CAREER THOUGH!
3. The correct way to say it is “Daylight Saving Time.” “Daylight Savings” isn’t a thing. WHO KNEW??
4. This cake. THE CAKE, MY GOD, THE CAKE.
Let’s talk about number four.
THIS CAKE. I think it’s my best one yet. (And as someone who’s made their fare share of chocolate cakes over the years, that is saying something.)
I made it for you to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which is in a week. I’m not particularly keen on St. Patty’s, but any excuse to lick cream cheese frosting from the beaters is fine by me. Hooray for St. Patrick!
The dark stout in the batter is a dream – it really brings out the chocolate flavor and helps create a sturdy, moist crumb. And the chocolate cream cheese frosting? Smooth and dense and oh so luscious. It’s the perfect balance of deep chocolate flavor and bright, light tang. It’s like heaven on an offset spatula.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (Yes, past tense did. It was a huge cake and now it’s definitely gone because we finished it.)
Still, it’s nice to know that even if we are low on dollas, we’re absolutely RICH with cake.
For the full recipe, head over to the Page-A-Day Blog from Workman Publishing!
Evidence that you’re an adult:
1. You own a tablecloth.
2. 10pm feels TOO LATE. For anything.
3. A productive day is one that involves laundry.
4. Really high heels just aren’t worth it.
5. You can use the expression “on fleek” in a sentence but don’t actually know what it means.
6. You can eat cheese and crackers for dinner and answer to NO ONE.
7. You place a premium on being well hydrated, and keep a water bottle around at all times.
8. Dental floss is a necessity.
9. You know when stuff goes on sale at the grocery store (Wednesday, obvi).
10. YOU OWN A HOUSE!
Number ten number ten number ten number ten! It’s happening. We bought an adorable house in Seattle and it’s not ours quite quite yet but it’s going to be soon, and did I mention that it’s adorable? #ADULT.
To celebrate, I made you a warm and hearty red curry stew, with sweet squash and tender chicken, bright spinach and creamy coconut milk. It’s adapted from Amanda Paa’s lovely cookbook, Smitten with Squash, which it turns out I really am. I’ve dog-eared about twelve pages so far, and am excited to cook my way through them all (Brown Butter Delicata Doughnuts HELLO).
In the meantime, I’m going to eat a big bowl of red curry off of my tablecloth while contemplating my 401k. In my HOUSE! Like a grown up. Yikes.
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One more sweet treat before the weekend! Or for your weekend, as it were.
Because it’s almost Valentine’s day!
And just as peanut butter loves jelly, and spaghetti loves meatballs, and Mr. Darcy loves Elizabeth — like macaroni is to cheese and chicken is to waffles and Johnny Depp is to Chocolat, it is inescapably true that red velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting just GO. Together. Hand in hand. Cake in mouth.
And who are we to argue, anyway?
I like my red velvet cake with a heavy-handed spill of cocoa powder, for more of a chocolatey bite. This means that the red coloring gets a little bit muddied, but I don’t mind. The cakes come out out looking rich and dark, little Bordeaux-tinted lovelies, and soon that cream cheese frosting gets piled on and who’s even counting anymore?
Heart shaped sprinkles seal the deal.
Happy Valentine’s day, friends! Sending you love this weekend.
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Whether you’re single or attached, Valentine’s Day is kind of the worst.
For the single, it’s a quiet kind of pity party, a big fat reminder of singledom (and what’s so bad about that, anyway?), and for the coupled, it’s a day of weirdly forced romanticism – diamond commercials (gag), expectations (flowers, at least), cheesy fixed price menus (molten lava cakes!) and exorbitant prices all around. Ugh.
And yet. I do love an excuse to bust out the heart-shaped cutter. Like a heart-shaped, egg-filled piece of toast!
Or four. On a sheetpan! Obviously.
The nice thing about these is that they all cook at once in your oven, so if you’re hosting a Valentine’s Day brunch or have a bunch of kiddos to feed, you don’t have to stand over the stove and make these one by one.
Plus they’re cute!
But if they’re not your thing, you could always just go with chocolate. Or cookies. Or pizza! But you know what they say… every kiss begins with Eggs in Hearts in Breads. Or something.
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