Angel

Posted on July 7, 2008 by chatty

The sister & family are in town this week, having driven all the way from Colorado. Woohoo! To celebrate I attempted to make my first angel food cake. Lots of egg whites. Lots of powdered sugar. Lots of sifting. Other than that, not that bad. A bit more high maintenance than I like, but it was all cool. Here is a hint, though, watch the cake in the oven, because I have a feeling it tends to bake much quicker than it’s supposed to. I took this cake out just a little bit before the suggested time (40 – 45 minutes), and still I feel I was a little late in doing so. Next time I will take it out even earlier. Yes, there will be a next time with this cake, even though the husband is not a fan of AFC. Can you believe it? That’s cool. More cake for me …

See, I should have taken it out of the oven earlier … it’s browner than I’d like it to be. Also, it was quite the sticky thing, not wanting to come out of its pan. BTW, we received an AFC pan for our wedding (yes, I did register for one and no, I don’t believe the husband mentioned he didn’t like AFC when we registered for it). It was still NIB until this week. The wedding was, yes, four years ago!

The cake, with a homemade cherry sauce on the side (a bit too sweet, next time I’ll cut the sugar amount in half or something) and some low-fat Cool Whip topping. I never buy that stuff, but hey, I’m still on vacation!

Father’s Day

Posted on June 17, 2008 by chatty

I talked to my pop on Father’s Day as we were driving home from the husband’s parents’ house on the Eastside. My dad was watching Game 5 of the Celtics/Lakers finals, so we cut the call sorta short. When I was growing up in Hartford Dad and I watched LOTS of Celtics games. Man, that was a good time to be a Celtics fan. I had a near life-sized poster of Kevin McHale hanging on my wall that freaked my mom out if it was sorta dark. Back in the day, it was all about Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, DJ, Chief, and my favorite (for some strange reason), Danny Ainge. The husband is puzzled as to why I liked Danny Ainge so much. Well, so am I, but he and DJ were my favorites.

Back in the day, the Celtics played 4 games in Hartford every season. One exhibition and three regular season games. I didn’t know it, but as I was watching an aging Larry Bird, I was also getting an opportunity to watch an up and coming Michael Jordan. Who knew? I loved going to those games! I’ll admit, I was much more eager to attend them when I was younger … middle school or maybe even younger. As I grew older, went to high school, and started doing high-school stuff, the games became less of a priority.

I left for college in the fall of ’93, and was heading to a new city with a fresh team. In Chicago, there was a bigger, better sheriff in town, and his name was Air. After growing up in the 80s with a string of Celtics championships, I was about to embark on another dynasty. 70-win seasons, three-peats, it was another great time to be a basketball fan!

I stopped watching basketball 10 years ago when I moved out here to Seattle. The Sonics are in a sorry state right now, with Clay Bennett trying to ship them to Oklahoma City. It’s a sad, sorry thing. While I don’t want them to leave, I certainly don’t feel like paying 100 bucks a ticket to see them play, either.

So, it’s with great pleasure that I can become a fan this time, of my old team, the Celtics. For real. Dad, thanks for taking me to those games. Those are days I won’t soon forget.

Go Celtics!

By the way, here’s a little sampling of what we had for dinner at the in-laws. At the in-laws it was all about Tiger and the U.S. Open. The husband’s father, at some point, deserted us in the dining room and pulled up a chair to the television in the kitchen to watch the last few holes. Then we all ran in to watch the replay of the 18th hole. Father’s Day was a good day for fathers all over.

The hors d’oeuvre: Melon wrapped in prosciutto; pearl onions with salami and cream cheese; a soft cheese with light crackers, and, my favorites, Cool ranch Doritos, Fritos, and guacamole. When has anyone ever called Doritos an hors d’oeuvre?

The Dinner: Grilled Salmon marinated in a ginger/sesame sauce with a pesto aioli; boiled potatoes and breaded zucchinni.

The dessert: Homemade apple pie (yes, as a matter of fact the mother-in-law and I did compare pie-crust experiences), with vanilla ice cream (not in the pic):

Way to go. A great meal.

Hello, Cupcake

Posted on May 28, 2008 by chatty

If you’re like me, and not a fan of Kathie Lee, you may want to put it on mute. But get a load of these amazing cupcakes. The officemate and I both agree that, seriously, these aren’t really cupcakes that anyone can make. I mean, really. Have you seen my cupcakes? Oh, right. You have.

Cupcake

Posted on May 26, 2008 by chatty

I don’t feel like I need to explain myself here. It is what it is. So much for that workout this morning, ‘eh.

This last one would have been a lovely shot had the store not had to smoosh the icing so that the cupcake could fit into the packaging. Boo.

Apple & Almond

Posted on May 25, 2008 by chatty

I have other tasty dinner photos to display, like chicken stir fry, or pork chops, however this is the most fun and a new one. I was looking for my occasional splurge at MM, specifically a red velvet cupcake. However apparently the market didn’t have any cupcakes so instead I settled on this delightful-looking tart.

Fresh Apple and Almond. The apples with a sweet glaze is remisnicent of apple pie, though the buttery almond crust gives this dessert an upper-class attitude. I’m impressed. Since the husband is banning desserts like these I enjoyed my half one night and what would have been his half the next day. Mmmmm…

Berry Tasty Berry Crisp

Posted on May 12, 2008 by chatty

Do you remember this sad sight? Well, I mentioned my poor pie crust making skills to the mother-in-law (she had given me a beautiful pie plate for my birthday). She responded, admitting to her own meager pie-crust beginnings, wherein she admitted to approaching her mother-in-law for her recipe. Then, she offered to hand down Grandma’s recipe to me, which I gladly accepted.

When I saw her at brunch yesterday, she gave me the recipe. I had pictured an age-old 3×5 recipe card, stained with shortening and specks of flour, displaying the signs of having been referred to over and over again. But rather than that she handed me a book, Great Pies and Tarts, by Carole Walter. In the book a page was flagged with a pie crust recipe from the 1930s. Brilliant! I had envisioned this family recipe, perhaps a secret one, being handed to me to care for and such and instead I received a new book from Borders. Apparently the original book the mother-in-law was looking for by Walter was no longer being published, but this one had the pie crust recipes which is really what mattered.

The cookbook, by the way, is so much fun to read. Especially as we approach another dessert-less week (remember, the husband and I are cutting back on the processed foods/desserts). I read it like a coffee table book or a magazine. Flip through it, find a fun recipe, read the the story behind it, salivate salivate salivate.

So, after a day of doing this it should come to no surprise that I felt the need to experiment in the kitchen a bit tonight. I had some frozen berries I had thawed (intended to have them for lunch but didn’t) and a dream of a berry crisp. I found a three-berry crisp recipe from Walter and just sort of went with it.

In a small ramekin, I sprinkled the thawed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries) with some sugar and corn starch. Crumbled on top, a mixture of whole wheat flour, melted butter, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Then some chocolate chips on top. Baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (until the berries were bubbly).

Fun and sweet. And tart. I probably could have used a little bit more sugar in the berries, though the chocolate chips were a sweet surprise in each bite.

So long for a dessert-less week. On the other hand, this was a cheaper, homemade alternative. Hard to beat that.

Cake

Posted on May 12, 2008 by chatty

I attended a super-fun baby shower over the weekend. It was held at Mike’s house in The ‘Quah, as I like to call it, hosted by Marissa and Carol, and featuring mum-to-be MJ. MJ’s mom took tons of photos, sent them out this morning and of course the only photo I look for is the one of the cake. Marissa has cake-baking in her blood (seriously, her mom is a professional baker), so I ALWAYS look forward to tasting whatever treats she brings. (I remember one work potluck she showed up with this awesome mocha-swirly decadent cheesecake. It put my sad pumpkin-chocolate-chip muffins to shame. Shame, I tell you!)

Details on the cake … yellow cake with raspberry jam and fresh raspberries in the center. The icing was a light and airy whipped topping (“stabilized whipped cream”, as Marissa put it), that I’ve always loved but never knew how to make. Now I know to look for BetterCream or PastryPride. On the top of the two-layer cake were these very cute mini-cakes, shaped like those wooden toy blocks that everyone played with as a tot. These little blocks were a chocolate cake with Nutella, and had whipped cream as the filling.

Now, I didn’t taste the chocolate cake, but the yellow cake was amazing. I was most impressed with the presentation. Some day, maybe, just maybe I could move out of my Muffins 101 level and become an advanced-placement cake baker, too.

Now that I’ve spent 242 words on the cake, I can also say that I had a great time at the shower. Pink was the theme for the day (you assume correctly if you think MJ is expecting a little baby girl), and we all oohed and aahed over the adorable pink outfits that MJ kept unwrapping. M & C did a fantastic job with coordinating everything, from the invites, to the decorations, to the goodie bag treats and the fun ‘catered’ lunch boxes with the girly cursive and pink themes. Loved it. Just made me smile.

Fruit

Posted on May 3, 2008 by chatty

As much as I love dessert (and if you can’t tell from my posts, I <3 desserts!), the husband and I have finally had to put the kibosh on buying slices of pie; cookies; eclairs and other sweet treats for a while. (My anniversary cupcake, red velvet with cream cheese frosting from Cupcake Royale, doesn’t count). So instead, I’ve been making fruit salad. Mangoes from Mexico have entered their ripe season, and every one I’ve bought have been ripe, sweet and juicy (for anyone interested today’s mango was my third in eight days). Also here are red grapes; ruby red grapefruit; banana, fuji apples and a couple of slices of (canned) peaches.

The greatest form of flattery

Posted on April 28, 2008 by chatty

My other favorite NY food blog, Lunch Studio, was the inspiration for this Metro Market impluse purchase. Anna’s Ginger Thins are delicate and spicy.

Thanks for the idea.

This just in … whimsy & spice has arrived

Posted on April 28, 2008 by chatty

Friends of my brother have recently started a boutique confectioners business. Aware of my fondness for food blogs, Ray sent me the link to their blog right away (why are all these great food blogs out of NYC, anyway?). Sweet fine day is an ongoing tale of a couple starting a family and a business, at the same time. Drool over incredible photos of dulce de leche brownies, and view interesting posts about the trials and errors of creating the perfect marshmallow, the right shortbread cookie, etc. Throw in a few Asian recipes, some photos of very cute kids and you’ve got a reason to check in every day.

So imagine my excitement when Ray informed me that whimsy & spice had opened an etsy shop! As soon as they were available I purchased some caramel-infused marshmallows. Along with it came chocolate marshmallows, and samples of nut and spice biscotti and shortbread cookies. I was so excited I nearly forgot that I eschewed desserts for the rest of the week. Then again, if I eat this for breakfast, it’s not exactly breaking any rules.

I can’t do the food photography justice, so you’ll have to visit their etsy shop, their Web site, or their blog and see for yourself.

Thanks, Whimsy & Spice. I love the marshmallows. I’m bringing them to work, a) to enjoy with my morning cup of coffee, and b) to show off and instruct everyone to get buy their own.

If I lived in Brooklyn I would visit you at the Flea, but since I don’t I’ll continue to enjoy your find shipping services.

By the way, the marshmallows. They taste … like marshmallows. Incredibly light, fluffy and fresh marshmallows. I shall have some hot chocolate tomorrow specifically to enjoy with a light, fluffy and fresh marshmallow.

Chatty Cha

dessert first

Category Archives: dessert