asian breakfast tacos

between the triple loop triple lutz triple axel thingies on the telly and the six quarts of muhammura that came out of my kitchen and the egg grandma birthday and the bit of jazz at the venue in a back alley, this weekend trumped a lot of other weekends. 

as of this weekend i have two new favorite people: meryl davis and charlie white. ohhhmyyygahhhh i have never loved ice dancing so much. i always thought it was just something that my mom and other people her age like. (and i even did a twizzle once.) but davis and white float about the ice like a disney princess and her shaggy midwestern knight and it is just the most goose bumpy thing i ever done saw since pelletier and salé. i still don't fully understand this whole team figure skating event at the olympics, but i am so glad that i get to see davis and white skate to my fair lady again. i might even make a cake about it. am i too old to be fangirling so much? 

speaking of being old: another highlight of the weekend was investing in a humidifier. soon my skin will be less like a prune and more like a grape! we've named the humidifier pat, which i think is the ultimate sign that we need to get out more and that we need this upcoming arizona trip.

and speaking of arizona: tacos! there are few things i love more than a taco and a margarita. and there are even fewer things i love more than a taco and a margarita before noon. so i made breakfast tacos, complete with gochujang roasted potatoes and other asiany flavors. they are now up on betty crocker!

-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!

WEEKEND WARRIORS

note: to accurately experience this post, i need you to pinch your nose shut and then read out loud.

we made horsey friends this weekend and now i am paying for it by way of sneezies and snot.

it was worth it, of course it was worth it. we took snowshoes out to see the furry friends and they let me pet them while they told me secrets. they were so sweet. i'm afraid i'll want my own someday... but shhhhh i can't tell eggboy yet because he is only just getting used to the idea of getting goats. one farm friend at a time, you know?

i think the horsies were jealous of our snowshoes... i can't imagine how difficult it'd be to gallop through the snow with those dainty little hooves. 

*achoo*

after our hang with horsies, i hurried back home to study kate soper's voices from the killing jar. it is such a good piece, you guys. i can't recommend a better start to your week than by watching this with a big old bowl of pimento cheese. which is what i did last night.

i made pimento cheese for the first time (and now my life will never be the same). 

-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!