holidays and celebrations

be mine, CAKE!

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since my wee little days,
my fammy has made the same very special almond cake every valentine's day!
it's super almond-y and pink,
and it is the best cake ever. 
if i could, i'd eat it every day... 
but every day is not valentine's day, so i can't.

here's the recipe:
 
cake ingredients: 
  1 tablespoon butter (for pan) 8 oz almond paste 6 eggs - separated 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon almond extract a pinch of salt 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup flour {you can substitute this for 1/2 cup of almond flour,
for those gfgfs and gfbfs {gluten-free girlfriends and gluten-free boyfriends}}
 topping ingredients:
  1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
a very very generous splash of amaretto
chocolate hearts, candy hearts, gummy hearts

clues:
preheat oven to 350.  butter spring form pan. beat almond paste and egg yolks really well. mix in vanilla and almond extract. beat egg whites and salt in another bowl 'till stiff peaks form, add sugar one tablespoon at a time. fold 1/3 of egg whites into almond paste mixture. gently fold in remaining whites.  combine baking powder and flour in another bowl...gently fold into mixture 2 tablespoons at a time, being careful not to deflate whites. pour into pan, bake until top is lightly browned and a knife inserted into center comes out clean {about 30 minutes}.

for topping, whip cream. blend in powdered sugar. blend in amaretto {drink some amaretto}. cover or pipe over cake just before serving and embellish with candy hearts! if you won't be eating the entire cake right away, do not frost the entire thing-- serve a dollop of whipped cream on the side of each slice and store the rest in the fridge for your noshing purposes. 
 
 
 
 
-yeh!!

what a winter break should be,

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 a shekere the size of, like, two and a half watermelons,
the iron maiden at kuma's corner [avocado, pepper jack, peppers, chipotle mayo, ten ounces of juicy dead, on a pretzel roll... side salad]
those and that,
dim sum//and then sum,
bánh mì x 5
a couch with my butt on it for many and many hours straight it was insaneeeee,
romeo and juliet two ways: sergei and letters to...
underwear shoppin,
some hella tight levain knock-offs with this recipe,
the ryan adams version of wonderwall,
and, lastly,
charcuterie plates that will make you only want charcuterie in
your life, more and more. 


--yeh


p.s. also and embarrassingly: gossip girl season 3

the annual dumplings of the world festival

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there is no christmas goose in my family. 
rather, there is,
here, go to the living room and fill this dough with potatoes for samosas.
or. dip a ball of risotto in bread crumbs so that we can fry them and make arancini...
it's really hilarious to walk around my house on christmas day 
and see a bunch of family friends sitting around, 
drinking mulled wine, 
and making dumplings.
this is stoopie and her pierogi-lovin boyfriend. and pierogi!
and empanadas with vegan sausage {??!?!!?} represented south of the border
new this year was a scary feat,
that we conquered with ease and chickens.
alls we did was use our secret fammy potsticker recipe, 
and then added some gelatinized chicken broth in with the filling {yeah, they were even kosher...}
and they were fantastic!
take that, joe's shanghai :-)


next year's mission?
dessert dumplings...


xoxo


yeh