It was really good. I'm going to try to adapt it into scones.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Mmmm Cake!
I made this yummy cake last weekend with rhubarb from my mom's garden.
It was really good. I'm going to try to adapt it into scones.
It was really good. I'm going to try to adapt it into scones.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Geek Cake
Sunday was my dad's birthday, Raj's is this Saturday, and my brother-in-law's was about a month ago (and we never really celebrated it) so we went on a family hike on Sunday, followed by dinner and cake at our house. In honor of us celebrating the birthdays of all the males in our clan, I decorated this cake in sweet, geeky berries depicting their XY chromosomes. How could I resist???
I used this tutorial for tips on frosting the cake, and smooshed some berries in between the layers for a bit of added yumminess. The cake was from a mix (Dr. Oetker's Organic Chocolate Cake--pretty dry) and the frosting was from this recipe--it was delicious without being too rich (I made a batch and a half, and had barely enough to fill and frost the cake).
For our hike, we went to the Coal Creek Trail. It was a really nice, relatively easy 6 miles. The scenery was gorgeous, a little pocket of oasis in the middle of suburban sprawl.
But it was humid as heck! This cute sign was posted at the trailhead. Hehe.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Easter cookies
Like so many others, I love Uncle Seth's Pink Cookies. I had tried a wannabe recipe before, with unimpressive results, but I think I got a bit closer this time.
For the cookie recipe, I adapted a recipe sent by a friend, the so-called Farmhouse cookie:
To this, I added about 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. In lieu of 1 tsp vanilla, I used about 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract. I rolled the cookies 1/4" thick and cut out flowers. For me, baking time was on the shorter side--no more than 8 minutes.
For the frosting, I used this recipe from allrecipes.com. I had some trouble creaming together the sugar and shortening. I eventually found success by mixing half the sugar into the shortening little by little, then adding the milk in parts alternating with the rest of the sugar. As with the cookies, I used part almond extract and part vanilla extract. I used neon food coloring for my rockin' Easter pastels.
These got rave reviews at church and with family. I think next time, I'll add a bit more cardamom to the dough. And perhaps try out a different frosting recipe, although this one was pretty good.
For the cookie recipe, I adapted a recipe sent by a friend, the so-called Farmhouse cookie:
To this, I added about 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. In lieu of 1 tsp vanilla, I used about 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract. I rolled the cookies 1/4" thick and cut out flowers. For me, baking time was on the shorter side--no more than 8 minutes.
For the frosting, I used this recipe from allrecipes.com. I had some trouble creaming together the sugar and shortening. I eventually found success by mixing half the sugar into the shortening little by little, then adding the milk in parts alternating with the rest of the sugar. As with the cookies, I used part almond extract and part vanilla extract. I used neon food coloring for my rockin' Easter pastels.
These got rave reviews at church and with family. I think next time, I'll add a bit more cardamom to the dough. And perhaps try out a different frosting recipe, although this one was pretty good.
Friday, May 22, 2009
The cheating continues
I've knit on the blue cardi for a couple of hours since the last pics, but the change would be noticeable (is that really how you spell that???) to no one, so let's not dwell on that. I would have done more, but instead...
I pieced the backing to go with that quilt top. I wanted the back to be interesting, but not more so than the front, and I this about does it.
And I made this summery top, per this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew. Of course, I made the mistake of choosing fabric that is not quite opaque. I think I'm going to tinker a bit more with the fit--the straps need to lose 1/2 inch in length, and I might size in the body a bit more. I might also unstitch the pleats in the front (the back has 2" pleats, the front has 1" pleats)--in this pic it looks like I have a unaboob.
Tonight I'm going to the Mariners game, known around these parts as 3 solid hours of knitting time. So maybe I'll be ready to divide for the sleeves tomorrow.
I made a super yummy enchilada lassagne casserole thingy a couple nights ago. I intended to make enchiladas, but at the last minute, decided to instead do a lassagne-like thing.
Wow, I just realized while previewing this post that the color coordination in that there photo is something to marvel at! Green dutch oven, yellow tea kettle, red sauce pan; green pepper, yellow pepper, red pepper; Old El Paso can; green serano chilis, yellow corn, red tomato. I wish I could say that I planned that. Anyways... Ingredients: red, green and yellow bell pepper, sauteed until soft; canned green enchilada sauce; ~1 cup dry black beans, soaked over night then cooked 45 min; 1 serano chili (btw: I have become a PRO at cutting chilis without actually touching them with my fingers--it's all about the creative use of a fork, spoon and sharp knife); canned corn kernels; 2 diced roma tomatoes; corn tortillas; a little mozzarella and a little cheddar; crumbs from the bottom of my bag of blue corn tortilla chips for a little crunch on top (optional)
The result? Crazy delicious!
Oh, and in case you haven't had your daily fill of cute, I present my kitty:
I pieced the backing to go with that quilt top. I wanted the back to be interesting, but not more so than the front, and I this about does it.
And I made this summery top, per this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew. Of course, I made the mistake of choosing fabric that is not quite opaque. I think I'm going to tinker a bit more with the fit--the straps need to lose 1/2 inch in length, and I might size in the body a bit more. I might also unstitch the pleats in the front (the back has 2" pleats, the front has 1" pleats)--in this pic it looks like I have a unaboob.
Tonight I'm going to the Mariners game, known around these parts as 3 solid hours of knitting time. So maybe I'll be ready to divide for the sleeves tomorrow.
I made a super yummy enchilada lassagne casserole thingy a couple nights ago. I intended to make enchiladas, but at the last minute, decided to instead do a lassagne-like thing.
Wow, I just realized while previewing this post that the color coordination in that there photo is something to marvel at! Green dutch oven, yellow tea kettle, red sauce pan; green pepper, yellow pepper, red pepper; Old El Paso can; green serano chilis, yellow corn, red tomato. I wish I could say that I planned that. Anyways... Ingredients: red, green and yellow bell pepper, sauteed until soft; canned green enchilada sauce; ~1 cup dry black beans, soaked over night then cooked 45 min; 1 serano chili (btw: I have become a PRO at cutting chilis without actually touching them with my fingers--it's all about the creative use of a fork, spoon and sharp knife); canned corn kernels; 2 diced roma tomatoes; corn tortillas; a little mozzarella and a little cheddar; crumbs from the bottom of my bag of blue corn tortilla chips for a little crunch on top (optional)
The result? Crazy delicious!
Oh, and in case you haven't had your daily fill of cute, I present my kitty:
Monday, March 30, 2009
Music to my ears!
The blue bee shawl is done!
Ends woven in, but still needs to be blocked. This will have to wait until after the move. Even unblocked, this shawl is bigger than either of my 2 previous--and I made the "petite" size. Good thing I didn't go for the "tall" size. This is all the yarn that was left over:
Only 5 grams!
I made broccoli onion quiche for dinner tonight.
I used Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for the crust recipe and for guidance with the fillings. Here's what went into the filling:
Ends woven in, but still needs to be blocked. This will have to wait until after the move. Even unblocked, this shawl is bigger than either of my 2 previous--and I made the "petite" size. Good thing I didn't go for the "tall" size. This is all the yarn that was left over:
Only 5 grams!
I made broccoli onion quiche for dinner tonight.
I used Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for the crust recipe and for guidance with the fillings. Here's what went into the filling:
- 5 smallish eggs
- A little less than 2 cups of minced white onion--sauteed until super soft
- 3 cloves of pressed garlic
- 2ish cups of broccoli (originally frozen, then thawed in the microwave), cut into small pieces
- <1>
- ~1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper and dry thyme
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Bzzz Bzzz
I had an Aha! moment the other day, plugging away at this Bee Fields Shawl. After working about 1/2 of the first repeat of the bee swarm section, suddenly--I saw the bees!
Do you see them?
How about now?
They're so cute! I'm onto the second repeat of the bee swarm section of the shawl. Still in love. Though I keep being reminded of a cardinal rule of charted lace knitting: do not try to knit lace when you're super sleepy. You WILL make mistakes! Thankfully, none of my mistakes have required much more than ticking back 10 or 20 stitches.
What I've been cooking: I've been cooking a lot lately, but I always neglect to take photos of the yumminess I craft. Today I made some of my Grandma Vernie's super yummy triple chocolate cake-ies.
Ingredients: 1 package of moist chocolate cake mix. 2 eggs. 1/2 cup butter or margerine. 1 tsp vanilla (I forgot this, and they were still tasty). 6oz chocolate chips (1/2 bag). 1/2 cup walnut pieces. Mix together. Bake rounded teaspoons on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Frost if desired. They're super yummy.
Do you see them?
How about now?
They're so cute! I'm onto the second repeat of the bee swarm section of the shawl. Still in love. Though I keep being reminded of a cardinal rule of charted lace knitting: do not try to knit lace when you're super sleepy. You WILL make mistakes! Thankfully, none of my mistakes have required much more than ticking back 10 or 20 stitches.
What I've been cooking: I've been cooking a lot lately, but I always neglect to take photos of the yumminess I craft. Today I made some of my Grandma Vernie's super yummy triple chocolate cake-ies.
Ingredients: 1 package of moist chocolate cake mix. 2 eggs. 1/2 cup butter or margerine. 1 tsp vanilla (I forgot this, and they were still tasty). 6oz chocolate chips (1/2 bag). 1/2 cup walnut pieces. Mix together. Bake rounded teaspoons on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Frost if desired. They're super yummy.
Today, I emraced my inner nerd and went to the main branch of the library to watch The Great Debate.
Harry Potter vs. Twilight. The debate was conducted between 2 teams of 3 high school girls. Now, it's obvious to me that Harry Potter is the better fantasy series for so many reasons. I just went for the spectacle. And spectacle it was! Hehe.
Stay tuned, coming up next on Bird About Town, a review of Neko Case's new CD, and a bit about what I've been reading. :)
Harry Potter vs. Twilight. The debate was conducted between 2 teams of 3 high school girls. Now, it's obvious to me that Harry Potter is the better fantasy series for so many reasons. I just went for the spectacle. And spectacle it was! Hehe.
Stay tuned, coming up next on Bird About Town, a review of Neko Case's new CD, and a bit about what I've been reading. :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Countdown
Only 2 more nights in NYC. I'm so excited but also freaking out. I made another stop on my Farewell EastCoast tour this weekend with a quick trip down to DC to visit Anna and Matt.
It was so much fun to hang out with them. I really hope they decide to settle in Seattle. We went out to super yummy dinner with some of their friends, went to a couple of farmers markets, played some poker (I won), watched the oscars (I won this too--too bad we didn't bet). Anna wore this super cute little cardigan from Boden and I was so fascinated by the stitch pattern that I spent a good 10 minutes studying it and taking notes so that I could copy it. :D This is what the knit side looks like
but the neat thing about this cardigan is that this is the inside. The purl side is showing (don't have a pic of this) and it looks really cool. I'm going to try to recreate this for one of my sweaters this year.
Speaking of knitting, I've made a good deal of progress on the Sixteen-Point Tee. But it is slow going. I guess I didn't realize that knitting a sweater on size 5s would go significantly slower than knitting a sweater on size 7s or 8s. Even after knitting the entire bus ride to and from DC and all through the oscars, I've just divided for the sleeves.
But I'm still hopeful that it will be ready to wear to my party this Saturday--I have today, tomorrow, and let us not forget the flight on Friday: 5.5 hours of prime knitting time. If only I'd done a gauge swatch at the outset, instead of after knitting for a week.... Oh well.
As a soundtrack for the knitting, I've been listening to a lot of Andrew Bird. His new CD is called Noble Beast and it is so lovely. His voice, the harmonies, the music, his violin! I love it. And there's some prime wistling on here too--you know I love wistling!
Other music coming out of my speakers lately: the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire. Fun music. I especially like the two versions of M.I.A.'s Paperplanes it has. I think it might be time for me to get an M.I.A. CD into my collection. Hmmm.
What I've been reading: Just finished Revolutionary Road. Without a doubt, a good book. However, I felt like I was reading the screenplay of the movie--the similarities were so great.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm just used to books giving me more than movies. This happened a few times--the book gave a bit more background about what the characters were thinking and feeling in certain scenes that I didn't get in the movie. And this isn't to say that I wish I hadn't read the book. I just wish it had been more. Now, if I'd read the book first, then seen the movie, I probably would have remarked at what a good job Sam Mendes did at capturing the whole book in his movie. And this is true. But I don't think this book is a must read. Just go see the movie. One big difference: the very end. And I think I like the movie's better. More uplifting after such a heavy story.
What I've been watching: I've already extolled on my love of Hulu, but let me just reiterate it's greatness. In my queue right now: Last night's Daily Show and Colbert Report. I broke my no-movies-until-employed rule last week and went to see Waltz with Bashir. Probably the best movie I could break the rule for. This movie is an animated documentary about an unsavory bit of Israeli history. So well made. Moving. Left me speechless afterward.
I would like to take a small moment to say that I love Mini Eggs. I'm not sure what it is about them--the crisp candy shell so different from M&Ms? the awesome cadbury chocolate inside? Maybe it's just the fact that they're only available during a part of the year. Or maybe it's that their arrival on store shelves heralds the upcoming arrival of spring.
So yummy!
It was so much fun to hang out with them. I really hope they decide to settle in Seattle. We went out to super yummy dinner with some of their friends, went to a couple of farmers markets, played some poker (I won), watched the oscars (I won this too--too bad we didn't bet). Anna wore this super cute little cardigan from Boden and I was so fascinated by the stitch pattern that I spent a good 10 minutes studying it and taking notes so that I could copy it. :D This is what the knit side looks like
but the neat thing about this cardigan is that this is the inside. The purl side is showing (don't have a pic of this) and it looks really cool. I'm going to try to recreate this for one of my sweaters this year.
Speaking of knitting, I've made a good deal of progress on the Sixteen-Point Tee. But it is slow going. I guess I didn't realize that knitting a sweater on size 5s would go significantly slower than knitting a sweater on size 7s or 8s. Even after knitting the entire bus ride to and from DC and all through the oscars, I've just divided for the sleeves.
But I'm still hopeful that it will be ready to wear to my party this Saturday--I have today, tomorrow, and let us not forget the flight on Friday: 5.5 hours of prime knitting time. If only I'd done a gauge swatch at the outset, instead of after knitting for a week.... Oh well.
As a soundtrack for the knitting, I've been listening to a lot of Andrew Bird. His new CD is called Noble Beast and it is so lovely. His voice, the harmonies, the music, his violin! I love it. And there's some prime wistling on here too--you know I love wistling!
Other music coming out of my speakers lately: the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire. Fun music. I especially like the two versions of M.I.A.'s Paperplanes it has. I think it might be time for me to get an M.I.A. CD into my collection. Hmmm.
What I've been reading: Just finished Revolutionary Road. Without a doubt, a good book. However, I felt like I was reading the screenplay of the movie--the similarities were so great.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm just used to books giving me more than movies. This happened a few times--the book gave a bit more background about what the characters were thinking and feeling in certain scenes that I didn't get in the movie. And this isn't to say that I wish I hadn't read the book. I just wish it had been more. Now, if I'd read the book first, then seen the movie, I probably would have remarked at what a good job Sam Mendes did at capturing the whole book in his movie. And this is true. But I don't think this book is a must read. Just go see the movie. One big difference: the very end. And I think I like the movie's better. More uplifting after such a heavy story.
What I've been watching: I've already extolled on my love of Hulu, but let me just reiterate it's greatness. In my queue right now: Last night's Daily Show and Colbert Report. I broke my no-movies-until-employed rule last week and went to see Waltz with Bashir. Probably the best movie I could break the rule for. This movie is an animated documentary about an unsavory bit of Israeli history. So well made. Moving. Left me speechless afterward.
I would like to take a small moment to say that I love Mini Eggs. I'm not sure what it is about them--the crisp candy shell so different from M&Ms? the awesome cadbury chocolate inside? Maybe it's just the fact that they're only available during a part of the year. Or maybe it's that their arrival on store shelves heralds the upcoming arrival of spring.
So yummy!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Yummy
What I've been cooking: So I haven't done much in the way of cooking in the past month, but I did make these super tasty cookies today. I'd had these choco chips burning a hole in my fridge, and it was super chilly in the apartment today--good combination for cookie baking. I used this recipe and the result was pleasant, if not extraordinary.
I left out the white sugar, but otherwise followed the recipe as written. Well, maybe I added a few extra chocolate chips. :)
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