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!

TAMAGO

ok! you guys. i am cold when i go outside. you are cold when you go outside. australians are hot when they go outside. we are all experiencing a weather situation, so here are some things that aren't about the weather but are equally (more?!) exciting!

(say it, don't spray it, i want the news, not the weather. 10 points and infinite emoji to the first person who names that tune.)

-roomful of teeth nailed their grammy performance and won a grammy and then cyndi lauper called them teethful of awesome. omgomgomgomg. 

-yotam ottolenghi. can i be yotam when i grow up? maybe at least just for halloween? because jerusalem and plenty are the greatest things to happen to my spice drawer since salt. 

-chinese new year! i feel like such a turd face for not throwing a party this year. but you should, and here are two recipes to make: donny's chicken buns and my potstickers that were posted on betty crocker today (complete with eggboy's hands as props).

-we are on an adult volleyball team. it is the most amount of fun i've had in a gym since parachute day. my contribution to the team is a rad underhand serve and loud cheers. eggboy's is game face and more game face.

-my mini cakes did not convince tema to move to fargo. but we had such a fun time at her concert and afterwards, at mezzaluna, drinking too many cocktails and eating their amazing fabulous delicious tasty bruschetta. 

-our mrs. meyer's iowa pine hand soap has run out, which means it is officially the end of the holiday season, which means we need to take the christmas tree down already, which means mrs. meyer's basil hand soap has swooped in for the win. so much win.

ok i'm done with exciting things, i'm gonna go eat a cucumber. 

oh but first, a word about tamago: it is tied with a million other things as my favorite way to eat an egg. it is sweet and salty and comforting and you simply have not had it at its best until you've had it freshly made, warm out of the pan. speaking of the pan, there are people in this world that will tell you to get a fancy rectangular pan for it. i don't have one, i just use a regular circular pan, and then it equals more fun for me when i get to trim the edges and eat the scraps. yum.

you can cut it into slices and make sushi out of it, or you can eat it hot like an omelette, or you can keep it in the fridge for a quick little snackee.

tamago

makes two servings

ingredients

4 large eggs

1 tb each: sugar, soy sauce or tamari, mirin

flavorless oil, for the pan

clues

beat together the eggs, sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. 

heat a pan over medium low heat and coat the bottom of it with oil. pour in just enough of the egg mixture to coat the bottom of the pan. once most of it has firmed up, start at one end of the pan and use a spatula or two to help you carefully fold over 1-inch of the egg. fold that over again, and continue folding until you get to the other side of the pan. (the reason you don't want it to be fully firmed up on top is because the moisture will help keep the folds stuck together.)

with the roll at one end of the pan, brush the open part of the pan with a bit more oil, and then pour in more egg mixture to coat the pan. gently lift the egg roll so that the mixture can get underneath it. once this new mixture is mostly firm, fold over the egg roll and continue to fold it over this new layer until you get back over to the other side of the pan. 

repeat with any remaining egg.

enjoy immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for later!

-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!

PISTACHIO HAZELNUT NOUGAT

some things you should know about nougat:

1. it is the best treat for a train ride because it will make you feel as if you're on the polar express. never mind that you've just coated your teeth in sugar and won't be able to brush your teeth until the end of your 12 hour ride. cavities don't form on trains.

2. unless you have had it in europe or made it yourself, it's unlikely that you've had nougat at its optimum chewiness. (i know this because every time i see it in a store in the states, i give it the squishy test. not one has passed.) three musketeers bars don't count.

3. eggboy does not eat sugar, but he has snuck little bites of this at least once every hour since i made it.

4. it has been the fuel of our of farmhouse kitchen remodeling efforts. (more on this later...)

5. it is stressful to make because it involves getting two separate mixtures to two separate temperatures within a quick few minutes, while you whip up some egg whites, and it makes you kinda feel like an air traffic controller. i failed the first time and created a big blob of burnt disgusting shit and it happened to be the christening of my kitchen aid, so now i am terrified that my kitchen aid thinks i'm an idiot.

6. it keeps well, so i have sent some around as little thank-yous to kristin for these amazing lip balms, sara for cranberry mead (!!) mustard, and eitan for hot chocolate and for being my surprise cousin. 

pistachio hazelnut nougat

based on this recipe from food & wine

ingredients

1/4 c cornstarch

1/4 c powdered sugar

1 2/3 c + 1 tb white sugar

1 3/4 c water

3/4 c honey

2 large egg whites

a pinch of kosher salt

3 c toasted hazelnuts, unsalted

3/4 c toasted pistachios, unsalted

clues

in a small bowl, combine cornstarch and powdered sugar. line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment, spray it with cooking spray, and dust it with half of the cornstarch mixture. set the pan and the rest of the mixture aside. 

get all of your other mixtures into place: in a large saucepan, combine 1 2/3 c sugar, the water, and 1/4 c honey. in a small saucepan, measure out the remaining 1/2 c honey. in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (have this set up near the stove), place your egg whites and pinch of salt.

heat the sugar mixture on medium-high. once it reaches 245ºf, turn the heat down to medium-low, transfer your candy thermometer to the small saucepan with the honey, and bring your honey to a boil over medium-high heat. immediately begin beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. beat in the 1 tablespoon of white sugar. (do this while keeping an eye on the honey so you don't burn it...)

when the honey reaches 265ºf, add it to the egg whites in a steady drizzle with the mixer running at medium-high. reduce the speed of your mixer, and keep it going for the next step.

place your candy thermometer back into the sugar mixture, raise the heat to medium-high, and then when it reaches 305ºf, add it to the egg white mixture in a steady stream. beat on high for 3-5 minutes, until the mixture is pale. 

with an oiled wooden spoon, mix in the nuts, and then scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. press it into an even layer, sprinkle on the remaining cornstarch mixture and let cool. (this should take just a few hours, if that.) cut and serve, or store in an air tight container for up to two weeks.

enjoy! and then brush your teeth. 

-yeh!