Bernie, Two Months!

Hello from Bernie’s 10th week! She is nearly 2 1/2 months old and smiles more and more each day! We have settled into the best little routine where every morning we have wiggle time, then go to the gym to stroll and listen to Unorthodox, and then come home and make a big summery salad for lunch. In the afternoon we do a fun thing like read crinkly tail tale books or swat at hanging vegetable toys before snuggles and nap time (that’s when I watch Jeopardy and read Bringing Up Bébé). Then we make dinner and Eggboy and I watch Fargo while we wait for Bernie to poop so that we can then give her a bath without worrying that she’ll poop in it (yep, learned that one the hard way haha). It’s peak maternity leave livin’ around here and we are soaking it in. Also the weather has been amazing, so we are, as Bernie puts it, “GOO!” Some highlights from this past month include:

-Our first little family picnic! On Memorial Day, we grilled sausages, potatoes, and broccolini, and drank rhubarb soda while we enjoyed the evening breeze.

-Bernie’s first out of town visitors! Jaclyn and Katie came to town and we had the best weekend ever, which included a trip to Fargo for the Antiques Roadshow (with a stop at Silver Lining Creamery after), the North Dakota Shakespeare 5K (err- we walked 3Ks of it ;), an afternoon picnic in the backyard with cookies and cookie dough (and carrots for balance), and cinnamon roll pancakes at Darcy’s.

-Cuddle time with Mrs. Moose. Bernie’s been grasping and swatting at toys and in true baby fashion she definitely prefers the super saturated weirdly colored high contrast ones. The muted rainbow lover in me is like “😳🙄 But Bernie, this hot pink neon green bumble bee clashes terribly with your navy car seat, mustard outfit, and olive pacifier…” but it’s ok, maybe one day she’ll love dusty rose like I do??

-Bernie’s first Syttende Mai, Norwegian Constitution Day! She is 5/16ths Norwegian, so we went to Sons of Norway and ate lefse, krumkake, rømmegrøt, and all of the other faves. She wore her Norwegian accessories from our friend Trude in Norway and had the best time!!

-My first Mother’s Day, it was delightful! Bernie and I worked on her cookbook and snuggled the day away. Then the following week it was my birthday and we went out to lunch wearing identical outfits and spent the rest of the day baking cookies and cake!

-Bernie talks soo much!! We have great conversations about Ooo and Ahh and Goo, I love them.

-She has gotten very tall, she has Eggboy’s legs. Hallelujah!

Ok, we’ve gotta go pick rhubarb!! Bernie’s sending some friendly hiccups in your general direction and I’m waving! Bye!

-Yeh!

whipped yogurt cheesecake with roasted rhubarb

sometimes in the spring i forget that i'm in practically canada because right now it's mid-70s and sunny and there are outdoor vintage tractor auctions about town, but then the sun sticks around shining bright like a diamond until quarter to ten and i'm reminded how essentially arctic we are. pros: i can photograph with natural light literally until 8:30pm, so i feel like i can get so much done. cons: i can photograph in natural light literally until 8:30pm, so i just procrastinate the day away. 

oof!

luckily my non-urgency to get home and photograph this weekend led to a lovely bit of time spent in fargo! we had pizza night at rhombus and then crashed at eggsister's spankin new apartment, which is so exquisitely decorated with vintage furniture and homemade blankets. i forgot what life pre-ikea looked like, but life in fargo is still exactly that, and it has so much personality. in the morning we ate bagels at the new great bagel place, visited our favorite coffee spot, and then bopped into unglued and zandbroz and fowler's before going back to the bagel place for some brisket for the road home. it was like we were regular city folk!

now i'm just noodling around, doing some laundry, and trying to get my ducks in a row re: book stuff! did you see the cover?? i'm so excited about it. now we're determining what the spine and back cover will look like.

anywho, shavuot is coming right up this weekend and on shavuot it's customary to eat dairy. cheesecakes and blintzes are traditional, but this year i took a route that requires a little less maintenance and went for a no-bake cheesecake parfait jar thing and topped it with an easy peasy roasted rhubarb that's inspired by claire. the thing is practically idiot proof and it can be made a day in advance. i used a biscoff cookie crust, but feel free to use a graham cracker crust, an oreo crust, a pretzel crust, or, i don't care, a gummy bear crust (?). (with more gumption i would have used the tahini oreos that have been in my fridge for months and that should have spoiled by now and they seemed ok but i was still chicken.) the filling here is just a basic fluffy cream cheese/whipped cream delight that's got some added tang by way of yogurt. it comes together in minutes and it's not too sweet. the rhubarb is though! because rhubarb is so sour, it needs an ass ton of sugar. oh and if you need some rhubarb, come over, my patch is bursting with glee. that's it. happy shavuot!

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whipped yogurt cheesecake with roasted rhubarb

serves 6-8

ingredients

crust:

24 biscoff cookies or similar
3 tb coconut oil

cheesecake:

1/2 c cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/2 tsp rosewater, optional
1/2 c plain full fat greek yogurt or labneh
1/2 c heavy cream

roasted rhubarb:

1 lb rhubarb, chopped into 1” pieces
1/2 c sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 tb vanilla bean paste or extract
1/8 tsp salt

clues

To make the crust:

Blend the cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Add the coconut oil (it doesn’t need to be melted) and pulse until the mixture clumps together. Distribute the mixture between serving glasses and then use a muddler or the back of a spoon to pack it down firmly. Set aside while you make the filling. 

To make the cheesecake:

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar on high until smooth. Beat in the salt, vanilla, and rosewater (if using), and then add the yogurt or labneh. Beat on high for a few seconds until combined and smooth. Add the heavy cream and beat on high for about another minute until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Distribute the mixture between your serving glasses and then chill for an hour or overnight. 

To roast the rhubarb:

Preheat the oven to 325ºf. Spread the rhubarb out on a rimmed baking sheet and top it with the sugar, lemon zest, vanilla bean paste or extract, and salt and cover with foil. Roast for 15 minutes covered, and then roast for another 15 minutes uncovered. Let cool. (Store this in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight if making this the day before.) And then spoon on top of the cheesecake directly before serving. Enjoy!

-yeh!

a chocolate ipa cake, friday links, and a lightroom giveaway

i made a cake! i made a cake! it's a rich little chocolate thing, spiked with fargo brewing company beer, and it's in the newest issue of the beeeeeautiful fargo-based wolftree magazine. yay, north dakota!

in the venn diagram of my cravings right now, we have this pineapple pico de gallo on the left, this coconut quinoa pudding on the right, and then in the middle there is this coconut milk grilled pineapple.

and furthermore on the subject of coconut, i made these dark chocolate coconut granola bars yesterday and they were beyond.

for supper yesterday i made ottolenghi's black pepper tofu for the egg parents and egg cousin and it was, how do you call it, sofa kind good.

stoop is making a funfetti wedding cake for us, so does that mean i have permission to wear a sprinkle dress?

i bought a bar of lux almond soap when i was in new york and it pretty much smells exactly like marzipan and i know this is not normal, but sometimes i just stand at my desk and smell it for minutes on end. i'm afraid to use it because then i will use it up.

i've spent lots of time looking at pictures of dumplings and trying to take good ones myself, but i'm going to stop now because these win everything.

cake tutorials are my new favorite genre of reading material. i really want someone to have a birthday soon so i can make an ombre cake and a ruffle cake, but i'm slowly becoming convinced that all farmers plan to have their offspring in the winter.

i miss college?

annnnnnnd a fake shack burger.

i'm giving away lightroom 5 today! it's my most favorite photo editing software. for the longest time i tried to hack my way through photoshop, but then i made the switch when i learned that lightroom isn't a lesser version of photoshop, it's actually just plain different. and way easier to use if i'm editing a billion photos of cake at once. i use it pretty much every day along with some snazzy vsco filters and i love it like a sister. almost. this giveaway is open to all north american residents. to enter: leave a comment with your favorite photo editing tip! the winner of the giveaway will be chosen at random next friday. update: this giveaway is now closed.

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chocolate ipa cake

ingredients

2 c all-purpose flour

2 2/3 c sugar

3/4 c cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/3 c milk (dairy, almond, or coconut)

2 large eggs

2/3 c canola or vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 (12-oz) can Fargo Brewing Co. Wood Chipper, or other IPA

for the glaze:

3 c powdered sugar

5-7 tb milk

clues

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a large bundt or angel food pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla.

Whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients.

Bring the beer to a boil and immediately remove it from heat. Whisk it into the batter until just combined. Pour into the pan and bake for about 45-55 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool slightly in the pan and then remove and let cool completely. To make the glaze, mix the milk into the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. Pour the glaze onto the cake and garnish with orange slices.

Enjoy with friends!

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-yeh!

RECIPE: APPLE BUTTER & BACON TARTLETS

you guys! i catered a thing and not one person puked the whole night (i think). it was wolftree's launch party in fargo, which was massive and filled with people that i want to be bffs with. so not only was i trying to not kill all of the guests, but i was also hoping to impress, or at the very least create conversation starters such as "i like your two-tiered plate." or whatever. 

and what fun it was! i am so thankful for my little apple buns and tartlets and sriracha cheez-its for bridging the gap between new kid me and the fine folks of fargo. talking about food is definitely my safety blanket during first conversations.

following is a little recipe for the tartlets that i served, which got gobbled right up! they were my way of serving apple butter (at wolftree's editor's request!) without the mess of tons of mingling people doing balancing acts while spreading it onto something. 

apple butter & bacon tartlets 

ingredients 

one batch of this pastry dough

12 strips of bacon, prepared according to the label and finely chopped

1 cup of apple butter  

a few pinches of kosher salt

powdered sugar for dusting

clues 

preheat oven to 375. prepare 36 mini muffin tins and set aside.

roll out pastry dough on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. cut out little circles or flower shapes and place in muffin tins.  

sprinkle a pinch of bacon bits into each shell and then use a pastry bag to pipe a plop of apple butter on top of the bacon.

bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, until shells are slightly browned. 

let cool and then sprinkle each with a tiny bit of salt.

finish with a dusting of powdered sugar. this will add a touch more sweetness and also detract from the fact that your apple butter plops probably look like tamagotchi poop. 

here are some photos from the event taken by the awesome chantell ziegler:

-yeh!