From Scratch

I am not one of those people who dislikes baking vs cooking or vice versa.  I just like being in the kitchen period.

Typically when I go to someone’s place I bring…something.   A bottle of wine in a pinch (or when I know we’re going to need it), tomato bruschetta to a barbecue,  flowers when the host/hostess declares “Don’t you dare bring anything but yourself”.     Nine times out of ten though – I bring dessert.

My father wasn’t much of a baker but he could take a box of Ghirardelli brownie mix from Costco and make it the best brownie you ever ate.    Sometimes he added extra chips or a squeeze of chocolate syrup but he could really make them sing.

Other than cookies – I rarely make anything completely from scratch.   My cakes might be a bit doctored up and I give brownies the same treatment as my dad once did but I’m very new to the world of scratch cake baking.

I decided on mini cupcakes this time because a) they were for my nieces and they like to eat MULTIPLE cupcakes b) I only have 1 large cupcake tin and I have two mini cupcake tins.    I didn’t feel like babysitting 2 batches of cupcakes.

Note to self – go get some more large cupcake tins.

Don’t tell Dave but I almost married him solely so that I could have a kitchen big enough to own this mixer. :)

 

I decided on vanilla cupcakes.  It was a recipe from allrecipies.com.   I’d link but they were really pretty dry.   Does it count as making something from scratch if next time I add a box of vanilla pudding?   How else can you make moister cupcakes.

Ugh.  Moist.  Jen hates that word.

  Here’s the after.   I made homemade vanilla buttercream and topped with rainbow sprinkles and mini chocolate chips.   The frosting was the best part.

Baking is about as much Science as I want in my life to be honest. 

All and all it was a good experiment.   It didn’t take that much longer than ripping open a box and I won’t deny I like being able to reply yes to the question “You made these from scratch?”

In another life – like a few years down the road – I’d like to open a tiny catering business.     Mini cupcakes would fit right in with what I’m planning.

This is just the first attempt.  I plan to try and improve the recipe in the next few months so stay tuned.

I’ve come to a conclusion

I’m just not going to post much this summer.  Please know the intent and the desire are there. 

Time is what I’m lacking.

I cleared out my DSLR camera yesterday.  I had 125 pictures.   Some are pictures like this:

which are taken by landscaping obsessed Dave in our backyard.

Some are from the absolutely DELICIOUS five star dinner my good friend Kelly hosted for us.

 

Butternut squash soup Lobster salad with avocado. Filet, mashed potatoes and asparagus. Chocolate peanut butter pie for dessert.  Incredible.

Some are of Father’s Day weekend.  When Ellie and Matt came out for a barbecue.

 

Dave found a frog in the backyard and showed it off to Miss Ellie.   She wasn’t quite sure about it – but she and Maddie are sure about Dave.  He has them both eating out of the palm of his hand. Not frogs of course - but you know...  The next morning my mom made breakfast before we headed back to New Jersey.   Egg, bacon and cheese biscuits anyone?    That night for dinner I made shish kebobs.   Dave got a few gifts.

I also found some pictures of this girl on my camera.

This is Dave’s dog Genevieve, who came out to Shelter Island last weekend but never came home. :(  He wrote a post about it here.  (Which is Dave’s blog btw).   It was a no good very bad day full of vet visits and she is sorely missed.  She helped me keep the floor clean and from eating all the leftover bacon.  She was my only source of company when I worked from home alone.  She filled I void I’ve felt ever since this lady of all ladies said goodbye.

I also found a picture of this girl.   I’m not sure what she’s even doing.

Memorial Day 2011

A year ago over Memorial Day weekend Dave and I went to New Hope, PA.

This year we went crabbing.

I mean Dave, his dad, his sister, the kids and his nephew went crabbing.

Dave’s mom and I went to the beach.

And then came back and watched them crab (?) is that the verb?

And then we went to Dairy Queen.

I love Dairy Queen.

On Monday we had our geek fest I mean barbecue.      To explain – when Dave was first separated he joined (and now runs) a MeetUp group of people who like to play board games and trivia.  I have never gone to one of the board game events so I only knew the trivia folks.  I’m being mean.  The truth is they were all lovely (if slightly eccentric) people and everyone seemed to have a great time.

 

I made a corn salsa that was to die for if I do say so myself.   You can find it in this month’s Food Network Magazine. And bruschetta.     A lot of people brought pasta salad.  Guess which one was mine?   The other best seller was dessert.  I made a flag cake.  It was noted it was not historically accurate. 

I said eccentric people attended earlier didn’t I? :)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.  We’re heading to Miss Ellie’s (my goddaughter) 4th birthday bash this weekend.  I am sure there will be plenty to report.

Bouley

Thursday night Patti and I went to an event for the Langham Hotel Group.   Patti says their Pasadena property is one of her very favorites.

We thought it was at the restaurant – but it was actually at the test kitchen.  The chefs from various hotels made a bunch of delicious treats.

It was dark and I only had my iPhone but here’s what I could capture.

I’m very much into flowers these days.  Must be the wedding planning!!!  A duck ravioli with sweet peas.  Delish!  Chocolates. Asparagus all lined up. Roasted shrimp with grape tomatoes in a shot glass. Soft shell crabs. More chocolates. Pear vodka.  Not really a fan but the cocktails they made looked yummy.More flowers. 

There was lots of interesting wall decor. Chefs in action.  

Ice cream pops.  I was told it was vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.  Methinks the bottom layer was actually pistachio.Patti and me with Chef Denis.

Everything was so well done and it was definitely an experience I would not have had if not for this event!

I have more pics from my weekend in Maryland and if I keep my head about me – maybe even pics from me making dinner tonight!  Stay tuned!!