CHALLAH WAFFLES

wednesdays are great.

on wednesdays at the town bakery, i emerge out of the kitchen and work up front at the counter, serving people cookies and cakes and cinnamon rolls. i like to think that their time at the bakery is a happy part of their day, and it's so fun to be a part of it. 

some people come in every week. some people i even know by name! it's the ultimate small town experience. i am luke and everyone else is lorelei. (minus the smooching part.)

after reading yesterday's kvetching about the state of the union, as well as some other sad things around the internet, i am extra excited to dispense some smiles and sugar today.

and because there is a very good chance that you do not live in my town and therefore cannot come to the bakery for smiles and sugar, here is some via the internet: challah waffles! in my latest piece for molly on the range, i made a liège waffle with challah dough in my vintage mickey mouse waffle iron. they came out so perfectly chewy and sweet that i spent a good few days only eating them. #blob 

holllllla!!

-yeh!

RAINBOW MINI CAKES

i am so excited for this weekend! my friend tema is coming to north dakota with her string quartet, ethel. she is the first of my new york friends to see me in my new digs, and i am basically going to try to bribe her to stay by way of mini cakes. (if that doesn't work, eggboy and i are prepared to ask her to be the godmama to our chickies.)

i can't wait to show tema how cool fargo is! and maybe she'll report back to my other new york friends that yes i am surviving in north dakota, and yes i wear plaid in public. 

on a related note, speaking of my new york friends: may i take this moment to express my gratitude to the internet for helping me stay in touch with them? i'm glad we don't live in a world where tema is coming to town on a horse and buggy and she could arrive today (when the cakes are fresh) or she could arrive next week (when the cakes are eaten) and the only word that rob or maria would get from me would be in two months when they run into tema at the general store and she is like molly's ox died of scurvy, but she's fine otherwise. 

like, i am just so glad that i can stalk donny's fried chicken adventures on instagram.

and give rob style advice through skype.

it makes me a happy molly.

ok, on to these cakes!

the layers are green tea, red velvet, and chocolate, the frosting is a basic buttercream, and they're decorated with marzipan and soooo mannnnny jimmmmmies. they're the children of a few different sources of inspiration:

a pistachio, chocolate, and beet root cake from ms. b's cakery in hong kong

dolly and oatmeal's mini birthday cakes

these rosemary lemon mousse cakes from engrained

and then i recycled the designs from my resolution cake and my sister's wedding cake.

(they were so much fun to make. i loved that i didn't have to decide on just one design. i could do them allllll!)

rainbow mini cakes

makes 12

1. make a full batch of this green tea cake, and half batches of this red velvet cake and this chocolate cake. bake them in a 9 inch x 12 inch sheet pan or a casserole dish lined with parchment. let cool, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and then freeze overnight. 

2. make a double batch of this vanilla buttercream.

3. cut out 2 1/2 inch circles of the cakes and stack em up with buttercream between the layers. decorate how you wish and enjoy with a friend from out of town!

-yeh!

CHICAGO

eggboy and i are in chicago now, escaping the north dakota cold and seeing my family. it is a crisp -9ºf right now and it's supposed to warm up to zero later today! such excitement, i think i'll shed one sweater layer. 

we spent the weekend in the suburbs with homeland season 3 and a massive stack of cookbooks. we did not surface except to take a salty cheesy trip to eataly with these two and to eat about 12 orders of brunch paella at ba ba reeba. 

my sisters and i, we do this thing where we impersonate al dente noodles. that's what that gif is all about. i dunno how it started, i think it's a variation on the helpless dog pose that we do when we don't want to do something or if pops is taking too many pictures (do you see where i get it from?). my best guess is that stoop is a penne noodle, mia is a bow tie or perhaps udon, and i like to think that if i were a noodle i'd be some sort of hand pulled strand like one you'd find at xi'an. 

i find myself obliterated with excitement to do things that were once a norm. going to a mall, going to the paint your own pottery place, staring at the whole foods cheese counter. even a five minute trip to trader joe's has been a highlight. it feels benjamin buttony and i like it.

anywho. ikea calls, so i am off to "brave" this "bitter cold weather" and i promise not to call anyone a wimp in the process. (but seriously, chicago, grow a pair.)

-yeh! 

2013: THE YEAR OF THE SUGAR BEET (AND OTHER SWEET THINGS)

a short new year's reflection, in list form.

things that i acquired in 2013:

a brother-in-law, a north dakota zip code, accidental dreadlocks, a perm, tractor driving skills, camel riding skills, a rash from a hong kong beach, the knowledge of what -20ºf feels like, a trip to the mustard museum, new friends, new friends that hunt and deliver me elk, a bomber hat, soju from north korea, affection for the ruby tuesday salad bar, a surprise cousin, a craft cave, sugar beets, and a homeland addiction.

hmmmmmm.

oh and a lot of squash.

and sweaters.

...knitting needles/yarn...

alright i'm done, who has champagne. 

-yeh!