Baking Day: Winter

Baking is my favorite thing to do, you know that. I think I have a new favorite though. Baking among friends. There's nothing like it.

The Day 

A simple group text turned into a blogger meet up, which turned into a whole day focused on baking. My dear friends, Kate of Diapers + Skinny Jeans, Katherine of Gathered Heart, and new friend, Catherine Short, one fourth of Grotto Madrid (and connoisseur of Starbucks) got together this past Saturday in my apartment to celebrate all things tasty.

Of course... I have no photos documenting the event. Because of course I don't, but Kate always has her camera on her - a blessing and a curse (mostly cuz I hate getting my picture taken). I was slightly busy doing all the things, but trust me when I say it was one of the most relaxing days I've had in a while. Especially after this week, it was something that was very needed. We sipped on Trader Joe's sparkling lemonades and nibbled pasta salad and just kinda talked about everything.

The Recipes

What is it about baking with friends that brings me such joy? I would make it a career if I could. Kate brought her Hario drip (which I am now obsessed with) and freshly ground beans from Metropolis to compliment our sweet treats.

We started with a request from Catherine to make cheesecakes - obviously a personal favorite of mine - adapted from a Food Network Magazine recipe for *bacon* cheesecake. Pay no attention to the crust and the addition of bacon but the filling recipe is golden. A few additions is about a tablespoon of lemon zest and a splash of bourbon or brandy - depending on what you have/is hiding in your closet. The crust is simply graham crackers, melted butter, a little sugar and vanilla extract. Bake the crusts a little before you fill them. Also... it's time to get familiar with the bain-marie or a hot water bath. It's not as scary as you think! But it's very vital. Trust me. Your value of life will improve.

After a successful cheesecake endeavor we moved on to our adventure recipe - Dorie Greenspan's Whole Lemon Tart. This was a blind test of character for me to not have tested a recipe before trying it out but I felt it was sound. I mean Dorie Greenspan? Really? Isn't disputing her wisdom a federal crime in Iceland and northern Canadian provinces? The good thing is it turned out well! Really well. I'm going to refer you to Deb at Smitten Kitchen for her adaptation because I would appreciate a less sticky tart. The tart dough crust came from who else but Joy the Baker. Bless her whole heart forever.

We finished with *puts hand on heart* who I call my friend but in reality doesn't know me at all, Ina Garten's scones. I'm gonna rant for a bit here - stay with me. I've had a lot of scones in my day. They're like the novelty baked good based on the name alone. Oo! Scones! They're not from here! I love your accent. But when you get them they're dense and dry and kind of hockey puck-ish in nature and taste. This recipe used lots. and LOTS of cold cubed butter which in turn made it one of the lightest most flaky scones I've had. We split the dough and added cranberries to one half and chocolate chips to the other half. In total? Pure bliss. It's definitely going to be what I measure every scone against. It also ensures that I will never get another scone from Panera... or Starbucks... or the bakery downstairs. Dang. I just went there.

It was a wonderful day, filled with sweet people, sweet conversations, and sweet, sweet baked goods. I can't wait to reconvene in the spring with new recipes and new topics to talk about.

*all photo cred goes to Kate De La Rosa - for higher resolution photos of the day please head to her blog. But really you need to read her blog. Let's be real. 

Adventures!

I've been commissioned! For food that is. I'm making a friend's wedding cheesecake (CHEESECAKE) for her impending nuptials this weekend and I am exCITED. I can't even fully talk about it... I just keep smiling and nodding and showing people THIS PICTURE of the tester cheesecake. and then smiling and nodding. Such is my life.

Bacon caramel chocolate cheesecake that shouldn't make sense but it does. It makes ALL of the sense that has ever been made ever. This should be it's own category really.

Can you tell I'm slightly excited?? I'll update with how everything turns out after Saturday.

Here's to new adventures!

cake-in-review

I briefly mentioned my foray into Joy the Baker's new cookbook a few posts ago and I wanted to tell you how it was!

I made her Extra Crumble Coffee Cake and it turned out... exactly like it was supposed to.

That being said... I am going to immediately change pretty much everything that goes into it except the cake part of it. hah!

When she says "extra crumble" she really isn't kidding AT ALL. There's like a pound of crumbly bits on the top AND filling in the middle. It's insane. I think there is too much cinnamon in it. Coffee cake and cinnamon go together like peanut butter and jelly but the BAD thing about cinnamon is it can tend to sit on your palette without really adding to the depth of the dish. Between the crumble and the filling there was about 3 tablespoons of cinnamon. It was... really PRESENT in kind of a bad way.

I did test it on Kate and my family and they enjoyed it which made me happy, but I know what I need to change now

While changing a bunch of things I finally realized that cookbooks are more of a guideline rather than the law. No one person has the exact same tastebuds as the other. This recipe just happens to suit Joy the Baker, but it doesn't suit Abby the baker. I actually prefer a crispy, more buttery topping filled with pecans. And! I like the crumble part on the bottom so it caramelizes and gets all gooey and AWESOME.

But that's my prerogative. Thanks Bobby Brown.

I'm so excited to make more of Joy's recipes and know that I can put my own spin on them to make them distinctly Abby.

Did I mention I'm MEETING this woman in the flesh in 13 days? Did I ALSO mention that she told me she's excited to meet me?! CHYEAH. REAL LIFE GUYS. real life.

ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGEEES.

salad: the mystery untangled

Can you tell that I've been watching a lot of Downton Abbey by my post title? To say I love that show would be a HUGE understatement. It's tasteful drama, scandal, gossip, outrage, unrequited love and PBS. My Jane Austen heart literally... pitter patters. It's pretty intense.

Katherine gave me the good idea to write about my favorite salads since I seriously eat them daily and I was ready to have a series about salads but I think it deserves a precursor. Like any good food, salads have a foundation to them. Once you get the foundation down you can put ANYTHING on a salad and have it taste good. The options are so limitless!

We'll start with the salad itself, move onto toppings and end in dressings.

Now if you're an iceberg lettuce kind of person you should be ashamed. It has no nutritional value whatsoever. The fact that I just said that is APPALLING to me because I used to never CARE about nutritional value. But if I'm going to eat a bowlful of vegetables only to have them not count as anything, good nor bad for my body is pretty stupid of me. If I'm gonna eat well, let's do it! If I'm gonna have Harold's fried chicken then I've already resolved to eat like crap. woo!

Lettuce should be romaine, mixed greens, spring greens, fresh spinach and/or something nutritional like... shredded brussels sprouts or cabbage or kale... but you know my feelings about kale. I'm willing to give them a chance in salads. Never fear! Myself, I'm a combo kind of girl. My salad ALWAYS starts with thinly chopped romaine lettuce, fresh spinach and broccoli slaw.

*sigh* Broccoli slaw. How did I survive salad eating without broccoli slaw?! It's literally just shredded broccoli and carrots in a bag, but it adds depth to salads to where I don't feel like I'm a giant... brown... rabbit. I feel like I just ATE something legitimate.

Toppings. Toppings are where you can get creative with your salads because it's a mix of everything you like. In terms of vegetables I usually always put on either cucumbers (pickle cucumbers are the BEEEST - the skin is not too thick and they're super tiny!) and radishes - they're crunchy and bright. Love them. At any given time, in my kitchen, I have the following toppings:

• Tortilla chips (great for literally any salad)
• dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries, raisins
• raw almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans and spanish peanuts
• chicken (poached, sautéed, fajita...ed.) taco meat, roast beef, steak
• fresh peas, fresh avocado 
• black beans
• mexi-corn (a word I'm pretty sure made up by Aldi... but it's so tasty.)
• garbanzo beans (chick peas) 
• sautéed vegetables like peppers or mushrooms
• Granny Smith apples, mandarin oranges
• shaved coconut
• feta, gorgonzola, shredded cheddar cheese
• bacon (duh.) in bit form or whole and crumbled

see!? the possibilities just keep going! This is just stuff I have in my house, not stuff I bought, but I know for a fact that all of these things can be bought at ALDI or WALMART for super. extra. CRAZY CHEAP. It just turns out that my mother has loads of food because she's amazing. True story. I plan on having her guest post pretty soon for a "How to Grocery Shop" feature story. So many younger people have no knowledge of how to shop. I think once you get the basics down you're totally set. I get to sit at the master's feet daily and she needs to impart some KNOWLEDGE. Nutrition for your EYES. 

You can't have a good salad without the finishing touch. Like earrings on a woman, so is dressing to a salad. It is the perfect finisher. My personal favorite is my mother's vinaigrette (literally. good on EVERYTHING) and Trader Joe's spicy peanut vinaigrette. Ranch? A timeless classic and pretty much a girl's best friend next to diamonds. 

...and there you have it! I make all my salad's heavy on the vegetables and the good nutritional stuff and light on the dressing and fattening stuff and it always turns out to be a great meal. Happy eating!

kale chips! the real story.

So for about a year and a half now, on just about every blog I read, people have been raving about kale chips.

Kale chips are amazing!
They don't even taste like kale!
They're so crispy I feel like I'm eating chips!
Did you hear kale chips are gunning for world peace??
I'm voting Kale Chips in the next mayoral election!

For serious guys, it's a phenomenon. It's taken the world by storm right up there with the macarena. That's still a thing right?

I found a new food blog the other day, The Novice Chef. She is a girl after my own heart. Her blog has brown butter ice cream on it. I mean... clearly this is going to be made next week. But she also has an amazing named "Ass Friendly" section geared towards healthy eating. What did I find there? Of course. Kale chips. and their amazingness.

Well, that broke me. I bought some kale and broke out the parchment paper. It was on. Real life. I took her directions, turned on Spotify and went to town on making my kale chips. After they were out of the oven I sprinkled kosher salt, lemon juice and little bit of parmesan cheese on them because when has that combination ever failed?! Never is the answer.

ooo... check out the amazingness. those dark brown crispy bits... the flecks of cracked black pepper and parmesan on there... my 30pin dock connector somehow snaking itself around the bowl cuz it just wants a piece of the lime light. Sneaky, sneaky.

I'm going to tell you exactly what I think of them...

I super hated them. I feel REALLY bad about it too! I feel like I've let down the ENTIRE health/blog world that praise kale chips. You know what they taste like?! CRISPY STRONG TASTING LETTUCE COVERED IN SALT AND PEPPER. I did happen upon a few that were covered in lemon juice and parmesan and that was the SAVING grace of it. But for real town? I did NOT like them! I threw the rest of the batch away in disgust and guzzled 32 oz of water and ate some cashews! Maybe I made them wrong (I didn't.) maybe I didn't leave them in long enough (I did everything correctly.) but yeahhhhh. Sorry to literally EVERYONE. Kale chips are not for Abby. I'd rather eat kale greens like my mom makes them (southern style and STILL healthy BOOYAH) orrr I could eat a really leathery shoe covered in lemon juice and parmesan.

There. I said it. I've said my peace. Washed my hands of it. I'm glad I tried it so at least I can say "OMG KALE CHIIIPS!?... dooon't believe the hype."

I still want you to try them for yourself though! I happen to love COOKED kale greens like my mom makes, but who knows! they might be the breakthrough for you to stop eating chips (read: Nacho Cheese Doritos) at your desk late at night. Please tell me I'm not the only one that has done that haha

dressing a salad

It's weird to post about salad dressing and be serious about it but in all honesty this post is for Kate. She visited me a few weeks ago and we baked tasty good things like quiche and pumpkin bread buuuut somehow we also had fried chicken and salad. I don't even... anyway. The salad dressing is pretty quintessential "Gail" if you know my mom at all. It's a basic lemon vinaigrette that happens to taste good on EVERYTHING you put it on. I haven't tried it on cereal... but I would. It's THAT good.

Well, Kate texted me for instructions/ingredients and I told her what I thought it was. When I reported back to my MOM what I texted KATE she... told me it was correct and incorrect all at the same time. Then she let it go. Then she brought it up the next day some ingredients I forgot. Then she dropped it. Then she admitted, finally, THE NEXT DAY, that I needed to give Kate CORRECT ingredients for the vinaigrette.... and THEN said it really didn't matter to be honest. She's miiiildly obsessive. And I pretty much love the stuffing out of her. 

So... even though I am acting on command from my mother this is seriously the most simple and amazing salad dressing ever. My favorite salad is romaine hearts, finely chopped, dried cranberries, walnuts and radishes. on a good fall day I'll add a tart, crispy green apple. and add this simple yet effective vinaigrette? this salad SINGS. 

this... coming from a girl who thinks french fries are hardcore vegetables. (kidding! mostly...)

Ah! addendum. already haha... My mom likes to see little flecks of green in the dressing, it gives her subtle satisfaction of sorts. She will put either dried parsley (which you cannot taste) or dried cilantro (which gives it a very, VERY subtle boost in flavor) in the dressing. Also that "sqwidge" is more like a teaspoon or less. Dijon can be very overpowering so you have to make it a team player. Actually all the flavors threaten to overpower one another which is why it's so brilliant in it's simplicity. You can definitely leave out the onion powder if that isn't your cup of tea but don't leave out the garlic powder. Just sayin'. You'll want it present. 

This is the ONE dressing that makes me CRAVE salads and saves me money because I will never buy vinaigrette again. It's perfect for in between the constant carb loading holidays and a good reminder that good food doesn't have to have golden arches on it. : )

Happy eating!

5 minutes to bliss

Don't you have those days (every month) when you just NEED a brownie and ice cream? Or something really chocolatey? Guess. What. I found your solution!

Adapted from Babble's "Two Minute Mug Brownies" I made a few minor changes to it... it's sincerely amazing. and? made in the frickin MICROWAVE. shut up. shut the front door.

These brownies are AMAZING! It's really not a brownie it's more like a flourless cake (with flour haha).  Best of all it's low calorie, pretty low in fat and if you put in a ramekin (you'll see) you can definitely share this with two people to cut down on the calories even MORE! It's pretty chocolatey so you'll have your fix in a few bites. When the ice cream hits the hot cake they... pretty much just get on down with their bad selves and things become melty and beautiful.

enjoy the noms! don't get too crazy cuz it takes a literal second to make. you'll want it after every meal. why did Duncan Hines ever make those "warm gooey cake" things when you have THIS. way better. Sorry Duncan.

Easy Cooking: Recipes from a Hipster Housewife.

A while back my friends and I were twittering it up about food and our love of it. Literally. We were on Twitter. I said that we should have a collaboration blog named Hipster Housewives where we talk about food we'd make as married ladies and just having a general love of food, cooking and baking. I love that while the rest of the world is pretty much breaking away from so called "domestication" there is a resurgence of "hey. i'm gonna make a good meal for my family." or in my case "i'm gonna know how to JAM in the kitchen so when i HAVE a family they'll pretty much kiss my feet." The collaboration blog never happened but the name Hipster Housewife has lived on in hashtags whenever someone makes something amazerful and tasty.

for example... *lifts an eyebrow* today!

I made baked chicken, mashed potatoes from scratch, peas, and walnut brownies with ice cream. As far as weeknight dinners it's pretty standard nothing out of the ordinary. CEPT IT'S AWESOME.

If you're a novice cook baked chicken is a GREAT starter! Mostly because... you do absolutely NOTHING and it tastes AMAZING. I mean how fantastic is THAT. Take some chicken bewbs, or legs, or thighs, or wings. WHATEVER. Put it in a pan, open your spice cabinet, close your eyes, grab random spices and FLING. whatever lands on said chicken will taste not only well thought out but absolutely tasty. I kid you not. Chicken is pretty flexible like that. Works for marinades too, which is what I did today. Low-fat Italian dressing? sure! Homemade leftover oriental salad dressing from Sunday? okay yeah they can come party too. Kosher salt? Cracked black pepper? duh! founding fathers of taste. Honestly you can't go wrong with chicken. Just make sure not to over bake otherwise you'll have a perfectly flavorful rubber ball.

Mashed potatoes... *nostalgic* mmm. They're an art. Truly. You can follow Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Rachel Deen AND Paula Ray's recipe for them and they will turn out different every time you make them. I found out there are three secrets in making mashed potatoes from scratch. 1) Yukon Gold potatoes. Everyone brags about how Yukon Gold's are the quintessential mashed potatoes potato. They're the foundation to a mouth watering meal. They're not lying!! I used them for the first time today and HOLY. BU-FREAKING. CRAP. It changed my whole life. They have this undertone of sweetness that you wouldn't expect in a savory dish. Ugh. Shut the front door. Secret 2) Butter. If you're making mashed potatoes from scratch please do not worry about calories. The minute you deCIDED to make mashed potatoes you threw all worry out the window. Do not substitute cauliflower, butter buds, spray butter, um... please get away from me with that crap. If you're going to make mashed potatoes it better be LEGIT and it better be RIGHT. You BETTER use butter! Just don't make them every week. Mashed potatoes is a 3 times a year dish. 1 random time when it gets a little chilly (like today), Thanksgiving and Easter. That's it! There is nothing better than butter. If there is there's probably butter in that recipe so... shut up. Butter adds a sheen to the potatoes and adds to the overall creamy texture of the dish. Secret 3 and the most important) hot water. Confused? Don't be. Before you drain the potatoes get a cup and siphon off some of that liquid gold hot starchy potato water and put it to the side. It will turn your whole dish around. Use a few splashes in conjunction to the milk and it transFORMS the potatoes. You can't ever get that kind of creaminess with heavy cream or milk alone. Trust me.

Honestly do whatever you like best in terms of potatoes because no one is wrong, but can I just tell you whatever I did tonight was ground breaking in the potato world. I'd like to think that somewhere in the food world is a potato section. Right?

Lastly, peas. I truly thought I hated peas until my mother decided I didn't anymore. Whenever she'd add them to a recipe I'd yell, "I HATE PEAS!" and she'd go, "uh-huh. *nods*" and add them anyway. Then all of a sudden I didn't hate them anymore. My mother is an evil wizard. I don't like overcooked peas so I boil water, add the peas, leave them in for approximately 78 seconds (i really don't count the seconds. for realz guys. come on.)  and drain them. Add a pat of butter, a little bit of season salt (whoever Lawry is... thank you.) and you're done! Dinner is SERVED. Also mashed potatoes and peas have been secret lovers since peanut butter and jelly were announced as a couple. Their union is SO GOOD. When they get together they just... make out. I don't even pretend to understand but somehow the peas always gravitate towards the potatoes. you don't ask questions. you just eat the amazingness.

Sorry there were no pictures. My mom and I mmm'd and oooh'd at our food til we licked our fingers. I'll make sure to take a picture of my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. If you have any recipes you love label them with Hipster Housewife if you'd like to join in my endeavor of being an awesome lady.

It's time for brownies and Project Runway. I feel like a real housewife of New Jersey. with less spray tan... and more standards.

Yes, we have no bananas

This is what I do on a Friday night. You will probably never see me in a club - let's think about that for just a moment. Can you actually SEE me in a club?! Be honest. OK. Let's move on. On a friday evening I'm folding bananas, sugar, and vanilla into flour and cinnamon to make Banana Crumb Muffins and think about what I'm gonna write in a blog. Lame! hah... *sigh...*

The oven is set at 375 which happens to be the exact temperature of our unairconditioned apartment too. Obviously ideal conditions to make something that requires MORE HEAT. There was a point where I was DRIPPING sweat. How sexy is that? Well let's just say you have noo ideaaa how much it's... NOT. Once they were in the oven everything was okay. 20 minutes later your nose is all but jumping off your face because you can smell that crumbly streusel topping coming together in the oven. I tasted one while warm - I couldn't resist - and oh, mama, they're SO. GOOD. Coming from the epic fail attempt at making churros this is a good win! and breakfast tomorrow! ohhh yeeeeah.


poor bananas. they were on the way out. so obviously i became my mother and rescued them to be made into delicious muffins. and that La Croix saved my LIFE while I was sweating out 24 years of body weight in the kitchen.

Ingredients! inspired by the Pioneer Woman haha and i had to close up that nutmeg... cuz i don't get it. do you understand it? seriously it's like an alien spice. tastes so grood. looks soooo weird.

breathe in... breathe out... grab your keys... drive to my house... CUZ THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

Banana nut crumb muffin? Meet cream cheese. mingle... mingle... pure. ecstasy.

visions of sugar plums

I'm excited to bake again! In August! I won't go into what I'm doing at the moment but I really do miss BAKING. Not eating but BAKING. I love to bake and give it away but I'm also a tasting baker - there is always one cookie less than what I give away haha... so I know baking right NOW won't work out at all.

BUT!!! the awesome thing is everyone can look forward to Joy the Baker's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes in August (i know... don't judge... maybe by August people will forget that I'm a complete J the B fanatic and am buying an ice cream maker soon...)

Here's a picture of them from joythebaker.com...

print it off... put it up on your wall with August post-it noted on there. Stare at it and have dirty baked good fantasies involving flour combining with eggs and confectioner's sugar taking on peanut butter as a lover...

by the way St. Louis was awesome! my friend found her wedding dress and if you've never seen "THE FACE" when you find "THE DRESS" i highly recommend seeing it at least once. it's an affirmation that love exists.

today's the day

Today is the day I made a baked good FROM SOMEONE THAT'S NOT JOY THE BAKER.

*pause... soak that in...*

It's a new day y'all!

I made these pretty puppies from Shutterbean. My friend Maggie also made them... I'm hoping she'll take pictures, too, and certainly outshine me. She's a photographer. You should hire her for things... I would hire her to follow me around and take pictures of my life all day but... I want to keep her as a friend. ok let's move on. No but for real do it. ANYWAYS.
(Editors note: Maggie DEFINITELY outshone me... sheesh. haha)





These were extra super good. The tea enhances the buttery salty factor and gives it more crunch. I almost ate the dough... but the end result was definitely worth it. I had to wait through all of work to eat them and I think that's what got me through today haha. That's not pathetic at all so uh quit thinking that. Thankssss.

p.s. I had a old African guy call me beautiful today at work... right before his equally old friend yelled at me for going too slowly. *insert Facts of Life theme song here*
p.p.s saw an EXACT look alike of Morris Chestnut at work too today. Stopped dead in my tracks MOUTH OPEN. I'm trying to sport that as an actual look now. O o O...

oh! (geeze will i ever end this!?) and listen to this. It'll brighten your life a little bit :0)

JOYous occasions

Today I made these from Joy the Baker for my friend named Joy. It just worked out like that. You can't stop some things in life especially when they're awesome like THAT. I've also figured out I've made 7 things from Joy's site. SEVEN. I know there are so many other food blogs out there... but hers is so SIMPLE and funny that I can't even stop my fingers from traveling in her links direction. My fingers know quality when they see it. I'm on a quest to bake something from SOMEONE ELSE'S SITE so if on the off chance J the B herself travels over here she doesn't think I'm a) a filthy, low-down, dirty moocher of baked goods or b) downright, flat out creepy. I'm neither for the record. Just know.

So the dough was kinda crumbly but my shortbread/butter cookie dough always is... we just have a weird relationship, like I'm not yet worthy to make a butter cookie dough that DOESN'T crumble. It always turns out delicious though. So I guess it's more of a silent agreement between the baking angel and I. These are SERIOUSLY good! Train your fingers to go on over to Joy's site and bake these TODAY. ("Let's rock, let's rock, today.")




I used Alice in Wonderland inspired tags for her cookies and coffee card, except nothing but good things will happen when you eat these. No growing or shrinking in houses and rabbit holes. Much safer I think.

I also decided if I ever opened a bakery it'd be called Messy Shirt Bakery. There was a point last night when there was more flour on my shirt than in the bowl. There's a problem with that.
Would you come to Messy Shirt Bakery? No shirt? That's ok I got a messy one for you to put on. We'll serve you now.

Every day the 14th!

Happy Valentine's Day :0) This Valentine's day I made COOKIES! specifically Red Velvet Black & WHITE cookies. They are delish. I think this will the last thing I make from a blog for now. I was halfway scorned for asking a question about the pizza dough to the original blogger? so I think I'm done for a bit until I find something else too awesome to pass up. (probably, like, tomorrow.)

I'd like to take a moment to explain the awesomeness of this cookie. As you very well know red velvet is the love child of chocolate and vanilla. Whenever I get a black and white cookie I eat both sides so no one feels neglected and I get the full effect. The combination of these two is pretty much mind boggling. Is your mind boggled? Would you like to play Boggle? It's my favorite game.

Isn't Facebook annoying on V-Day? It's like a war to see who will be the most bitter. Bitter about having a man and sick of the singles. Bitter about being single and sick of the paired up lovey-dovey fakes. It's nuts. I hope these pictures will administer love through your screen... or at least get you salivating and to Joy the Baker's website to MAKE THESE IMMEDIATELY. One last thing from me. If you REALLY need someone to do something for you on this day in particular... something is missing from your life and it's not a significant other.

do you feel the love? I do. Happy Valentine's Day everyone :0)

lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet

First? An apology.

Dear Joy the Baker,
Please forgive me for underestimating the size of the Lemon Whoopie Pies. You said they were large and I was expecting... an oversized cookie. This was more like a cookie the size of a large dinner plate. A 45 rpm vinyl record. A hat to cover the state of Rhode Island. I think if I split the cookie in half I could still feed my entire apartment complex. I will never doubt your recipe telling skills again.

From a loyal reader/aspiring baker of tasty goodness,
Abby

Now... let's get down to the neety-grreeeety. (my sister will totally get that!)

see? I wasn't lying! It's like as big as Texas. 

I love that confectioner's sugar takes cream cheese and makes it into love. I also love that I'm baking more without ever having made it and it's turning out AWESOME!!! I would open a bakery. I think I already mentioned that though... Doesn't the last picture look like they're smiling with their mouths full? So cute right? Cookies can be cute... because they're also tasty. It makes sense in my head.

Happy February!

Happy Black History Month everyone! Happy Valentine's Day! Happy not-a-leap-year-month-day!

To celebrate, I'm moving to Paris!

*crickets chirp*

...since I can't do THAT! I'm making these.

(photo courtesy of J the B)

Herbes de Provence fries

and don't worry. (i KNOW you were worried) the cookies ARE on their way. 

later...

results! they were SOOO YUMMY!!!

 

'twas a good evening.

up next...

For the lemonhead in all of us...

Lemon Whoopie Pies (or me when I'm tired, "Lemie Whoopin Pies" HAAA!)

(photo courtesy of Joy the Baker)

and for the ladies...

Red Velvet Black & White Cookies - or! the Ultimate Jungle Fever Cookie. Yes, sweet, sweet, yes.

(photo courtesy of Joy the Baker)

The saga of biscuit days

2 posts in 1 day!? Unheard of... but I just successfully made my second batch of biscuits and I think everyone (again, to the 3 of you who read this.) needs to know about this SWEET success. I should mention before I get started that my mom isn't even in the state - usually I'm yelling like, "HEY IS THIS DOUGH OK?!". This is huge. HUGE.

It all started Tuesday when I decided, "I should make something." and you can see the below entry for my findings of the biscuits. I got home Tuesday evening and realized... I left the recipes at work. So I sat down and copied the recipe for the buttermilk biscuits from the website... then I put the shortening and butter in the fridge cuz I forgot that, too. By then it was, mmm, 6:30. Finally! Everything was set... went in the cabinet, got the flour container, opened it and!... we're out of flour. Never in my entire life has there not been flour... SOME WHERE... but I found cake flour and bread flour and called my mom. She said it would be ok as a substitute.

So glad. Cuz seriously that was ridiculous for a second.

Even though I forgot the salt they turned out REALLY GOOD (tasting. i know my grammar.)! The cake flour made them lighter than air, and they're super tasty with butter and syrup. You'd never know the difference.

Today's batch went amazingly well too. Cept I remembered the salt. I pretty much shouted it out to make myself remember it.

Don't ever forget the salt in baked goods. It'll taste good but *something* will be missing. It's the salt. Go ahead. Turn that upper torso around and kick yourself in the butt. But after you do just underline "salt" in all your recipes and your life will INSTANTLY brighten... or something like that.

Today's biscuit's tasted just like Red Lobster's. Except better. Because I made them with love. Just like a Krabby Patty. They also taste fantastic with soup. The biscuits not a Krabby Patty.

Here are my results!

The first is my breakfast of Buttermilk biscuits, butter and syrup. Not the best shot but it was like 3 seconds before I walked out the door haha. The second and third are the cheddar biscuits. SO EXCITED.

ok. Must sleep! busy day tomorrow...... busy day.

biscuit days

I wish the biscuit days were like the salad days... except way better because there are carbs involved... metaphorically of course. "Oh, the biscuit days..."

In keeping with my new life resolution to bake, this week I will be making more things from Joy the Baker (srsly. lurve her!). Since my mom is in D.C. I figure I can bake unprohibited. Today I was feelin' biscuits and went a-searching through the annals of biscuits... well actually I just went IMMEDIATELY to Joy the Baker's site and looked through her recipe index haha. I will be making her Dad's Buttermilk Biscuits and the Giant Paprika Cheddar Drop Biscuits. I am so excited... and I will probably post more pictures just cuz I get insanely crazy like that.

If I could also make cookies this week that would be awesome. I am... getting the sinking feeling that I won't really want to bake til about... Juu...lyyy...uraryyyy...tober??ember. So I'm getting all this in pretty much before the week is out. I'm shooting for the black and white cookies as well as butter cookies and peanut butter blossoms for my dad.

Still trying to figure out whaaat I'm doing... ya know with... my life and my appearance haha. I can't get myself to DO anything... I just... don't feel like it! The longer I wait to wake up the more I know I won't if I don't just MAKE myself wake up. Anyone have a soul defibrilator?

I did it!

I made Cranberry Almond Orange Oatmeal from Joy the Baker this morning!!! I actually stood at a stove in spite of  not really being awake and toasted almonds in butter! It was pretty dang exciting!

I was really into it so I took pics of the results.

It was TASTY. I'm excited to start making cookies : )

Despite the fact that it's going to snow 98 inches today? I think today will be alright. Yesterday's workday was INSANE. no lie.