blog — molly yeh

party food

pinot noir marshmallows + a bonfire

in ,

over the radio, jeremy played his goldberg variations and out the window, a large flock of birds flew all oblong-like in that pretty way that birds do. i kept looking left and looking right to check for people and other cars, but there was never anyone else, not even on the highway. 

it was like being on another planet or in another time, but no, it was just north dakota being all zen and unassuming. 

i ended up at my friend evan's ranch, where we lit a fire in an old tractor part, and pet the cows as the sun set. we roasted weenies and talked about china, told our halloween stories and fed the doggies. i had s'mores and a sausage and it was the perfect sunday supper, or just the perfect sunday in general: all cozy and animal-filled. 

i do love a good bonfire.

the crackly sounds. cooking things on sticks. driving back into town, stopping at the target, and smelling like a smokey burnt up log. 

bonfires almost make me want to delay the first real snowfall. almost. 

here was our little fireside menu:

for noshing // leftover halloween candy

for melting // s'mores with pinot noir marshmallows

for roasting // bourbon smoked sausages and hot dogs

for sipping // kendall-jackson grand reserve pinot noir

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!

brisket tacos + an end of harvest party

in , ,

this year's end of harvest party was extra special. it was eggboy's first one as a man in charge, alongside eggdad, and it was our first gathering in the space where our wedding reception will be! the space is typically used for tractors and tools and welding, but we cleared it out, put up string lights all hipster-like, and set out the baddest taco bar in the history of midwestern taco bars. 

eggboy contributed about 12 kinds of salsa and i spearheaded some brisket, even though i was nervous about cooking for a bunch of big burly hunter men. because, i mean, preparing meat does not come as naturally to me as, say, baking a cupcake. i did not grow up eating red meat and when i was little i did not even really like any meat unless it was (turkey) baloney or (turkey) salami. so tell me to host a high tea or afternoon cake club and i will do it in a jiffy, but inform me of a dinner that i need to cook for 16 people that probably kill a majority of the meat that they eat and i will be a nervous nelly. very nervous nelly.

so i hyperventilated a bit and stressed out but in the end i chose brisket for the centerpiece of our tacos because in the past few years, brisket has wiggled its way into my life by way of the jewish holidays and i invited it to stay a while because of its earth-shattering smells and perfect next-day sandwiches. brisket might actually be my comfort meat, my entryway into the world of non-lunchmeat meat. each time i make it, it gets easier and i think why don't i make this more often? maybe when i'm a real married minnesota lady, one of those who has a slow cooker, i'll make brisket on the reg and you can all come over for brisket tacos every other tuesday.

here was our menu:

for noshing // chips, a butt load of guac, and every single kind of salsa that eggboy could get his hands on

for the taco bar // zinfandel braised brisket (recipe here), a light cabbage slaw, and all the fixins you could ever want

on the side // roasted sweet potatoes

for sipping // kendall-jackson vintner's reserve zinfandel

for dessert // eggsister's coconut cream pie!

happy taco-ing everyone!

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!

mini vanilla loaf cakes, all trashed up

in

as someone who relished in epic birthday parties growing up, including an oscar mayer wiener party, a carnival party, and a green party (thanks, parents!), i'd just like to say that i am 100% grateful to now be knee-deep in the bridal and baby shower phase of my life. i love planning them, i love attending them, i love filling the registry for my own bridal shower with cake stands and more cake stands... i think i was made for showers because, see, there was a time period in my early adult years when celebrations meant going up to the dinosaur barbecue on 125th street, getting real real drunk, eating a ton of peanut butter pie, going to three different parties, and then ending back up at 125th street for mcdonald's before going to sleep with all of my makeup on. and ok, that was fun, but there were no decorations or fun invites involved, no themes to be aware of, no homemade cake. now that i'm a true grandma on the inside (as proven by my new 9:30 bedtime, kidding, but kind of not really) i am fully ready to party by way of playing cute bingo and visiting with all the ladies at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

i even made egg salad about it.

i made egg salad and biscuits and all of these little loaf cakes in girlie pastel colors in honor of two showers this week. one was a few days ago, an eggcousin's classy bridal shower, and it came complete with wedding-themed catch phrase and chocolate covered potato chips. the other is jessica's baby shower today, thus the whole trashed up thing! in trying-to-be jessica fashion, i trashed some of these babies up with gummy bears, chocolate chips, and more sprinkles.

seriously, just shower me with sprinkles now. 

obviously you don't need a cute loaf pan to make these, you can make them as cupcakes. but if you do find yourself in the loaf pan aisle, i highly recommend one. they're the cutest.

mini vanilla loaf cakes with buttercream frosting

makes 16-18

ingredients

for the cakes:

2 1/2 c cake flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 c sugar

2 large eggs

2 tb vanilla

6 tb vegetable oil

1 c whole milk

for the frosting:

2 c (or 4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 c powdered sugar, or to taste

2 tsp vanilla

1 pinch kosher salt

for decorating:

coloring for frosting (i used natural food dyes, matcha powder, and pomegranate juice)

sprinkles

sanding sugar

gummy bears

chocolate chips

any thing else.........

clues

preheat oven to 350. grease your mini loaf pan and set it aside.

in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. add vanilla and oil. 

beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and then beat in the milk. scoop into your pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 18 minutes.

let cool.

to make the frosting, beat together the butter and sugar. add vanilla and salt. taste and add more sugar if desired.

frost your cakes, decorate the crap out of them, and enjoy!

happy baby shower, jessica!!!!! (and biggg thank you to ashley and bev for organizing this shower! check out their blogs for lists of all of the other trashed up goodies :)

-yeh!