when life gives you a sack of flour, bake a bunch of shit!

today was one of the more perfecter of days.

it began with a pretztival of small pretzels,

big pretzels, pretzel nubbins...

chili pepper, cinnamon sugar,

brown sugar, dijon, thyme, rosemary!!

oh it was such a joy. 

what is it about the pretzel shape that is just so giggle-worthy?

for all of these pretzels i used this recipe.

for the cinnamon sugar and brown sugar dijon nubbins,

i added the flavorings after the boiling bath.

and they were so tasty!

and then i had a craving for focaccia. 

so i made focaccia.

and i let it rise for like a million hours because

guess what!! i acquired a bike for while i'm at home!! {thanks, marshy :}

so i went for a bike ride and it wasn't until i was 

taking a break out on a dock {oh hayyy summer}, 

watching breadstick-shaped clouds go by that i realized

i still had bread arisin! so i zoomed back, and put it in the oven.

and then for dinners i used it to make the ultimate summer sandwich

which is the official name for a sandwich of:

fresh mozzarella + tomatoes + peppers + fresh basil

and for dessert i had a cake pop!

cake pops are way harder to make than bakerella makes it seem.

they kept falling apart during the dipping step.

{the broken ones, as mum and i decided, would be called

eyjafjallajökull. the education element made us feel better

about our failings}

but it's ok because they fall apart in your mouth anywho :)

boy, i'm full!

baking and biking?! what a great day. and now, television!!!

-yeh!!

heads/tails

 

1 lemon + chili SCRATCHbread focaccia

2 freedom toast @ egg

3 hole-in-the-middle {aka eggs rothko?? i had no idea} @ egg

4 a midday taco from the taco stand @ artists & fleas

5 i mean... why not?

school was closed this weekend. actually, it was just closed today and i pretended that it was closed yesterday so that i could... walk around and eat. in between doing productive things, of course, such as: shopping for a graduation dress! nevermind that though {the perfect sequined dress has yet to show itself to me, so in a way, i was not so productive this weekend}. but when you consider the asparagus soup that i experienced at northeast kingdom and the wasabi linguine that i purchased at the brooklyn flea, it was an absolutely wonderful weekend, edibley speaking.

-yeh!

what i'm eating right now is like a corn dog but more ghetto than that

1. put butter, milk, salt, pepper, paprika, and half of the polenta tube in a pan over high high heat
2. mash it up
3. cut up last night's forgotten chicken mango sausage and put it in
4. stir
5. top with tabasco sauce
6. do it again


yum


-yeh

be mine, CAKE!

 

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!!