yeahthat

Heaven help me

2010-04-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Master Bath project is going to be DIY. Hopefully, it will not be followed by a DIY divorce.

Haha, just kidding, honey!!!

Master Bath - Before Pictures

2010-04-12T10:37:00.001-07:00

Homemade Seafood Ravioli

2010-02-08T10:08:00.001-08:00

M and I had a delicious dinner on Saturday at Ristorante Fratello located in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose. This Italian restaurant got good reviews on Yelp, is fairly close by, and has many reasonably priced menu options. When we arrived, we were a bit taken aback by the restaurant's location (strip mall) and the very apparent lack of dedicated host/hostess which leads to guests aimlessly milling about just inside the entrance. Fortunately we got past these minor idiosyncrasies and enjoyed a very pleasant meal.

There are several homemade pasta options on the menu, including my entree of choice: Ravioli Mare, a sumptuous blend of crab, shrimp, and sole-stuffed pasta served with a sauce of shrimp, asparagus, and fresh cherry tomatoes.

It occurs to me that pasta (stuffed or otherwise) is not something that I've ever attempted "from scratch" and I am entertaining the idea of trying this out in the coming weeks. Update to follow (I promise).

In the kitchen, terrible things are happening all the time

2010-01-06T20:15:00.001-08:00

I just made a recipe called "The Best Brownies." However, I forgot to add the walnuts. I believe I just voided the warranty. Does this mean they are "Second-best Brownies"?

Ahem...

2009-10-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

How did 3 years pass without a blog entry? Oh, yeah... he's sitting in the living room right now, watching "Wow Wow Wubbzy"

Since our last episode, the family moved to a new abode. Settling in has been a process, and there is still more fixing up to do, but we are making progress. The house was a foreclosure, and was therefore slightly neglected while empty. We have had the interior and exterior cleaned and painted, cleaned up the yard, and started dreaming about renovations. Priority number 1 is a new master bath; sharing with the small humans is OK for now but I expect it will become tiresome in the short haul. Any suggestions for bathroom "must-haves" are greatly appreciated. All suggestions must be cleared by the management (me) before implementation, however.

Hope to give you all some tasty goodies to ogle in the coming months. Ciao!

Happy Birthday to me

2006-07-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream frosting and bittersweet chocolate.

Cherry Mousse Cupcakes

2006-06-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

For this recipe, I made whipped cream for the first time with the KA, and used one of my new large icing tips from Sur La Table. It started with Chockylit's take on Vanilla Cupcakes, iced with what was essentially cherries cooked with a little sugar and water, folded into barely sweetened whipped cream.

Names for The Machine

2006-06-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

I told my sister I was considering names for the New Addition (see previous entry). Here are her suggestions:

Abdel (arabic for servant)
Adah (means beautiful addition)
Bae (Korean for inspiration)
Taban (celtic origin, genius)
Takoda (native american, friend to all)
Baxter (old english, baker)
Duff (celtic, baker)
Ferran (Arabic, baker)
Leavitt (english, baker)

I'm leaning towards Duff (as in, "Get off your duff and make some cupcakes!")

Meet the newest member of the family

2006-06-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen Aid stand mixer was supposed to be my birthday present, but when I began talking about a lesser model a couple of weeks ago, Mike fessed up that this was on its way. It's pretty sweet.

Everything is cuter in miniature...

2006-05-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes
Lemon Lime Cupcakes

Including cupcakes. I made these last week for a little get together with some very lucky friends who moved to Kauai.

Below, you can see that I filled these with Key Lime Curd. I was overwhelmed by the urge to add a drop of green food color with the lime juice and, well, let's just say I won't do that again. The good news: I have great friends who apparently saw beyond that because they didn't mention it. In fact, I got lots of compliments, which felt really good.

Lemon custard-filled cakes with cream cheese frosting

2006-04-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

I was seduced today.

2006-04-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

I was swept away... it was love at first sniff. I am having an affair with citrus fruit. I was waiting for the bookstore to open this morning (had a 4-year-old's birthday to attend, and while I was tempted to go out and buy a case of "My Little Pony"s for this and the subsequent April birthdays, my practical side won out). Across the way, Sigona's Market had already started business for the day. I was pondering the dried cherries for the chocolate cherry cupcakes from Chokylit's Bakeshop, and the pecans for turtle cupcakes a la 52 cupcakes. It was at that moment that they caught my eye: Meyer Lemons. Sigona's kindly offers a cross-sectioned sample of their produce and I inhaled; oh, heaven! I gathered up my bounty and headed for the checkstand when another display caught my eye: real Key Limes. Not the big, Persian Limes you see in Safeway but the itty bitty ones that are truly Key Limes.

I've now made a cup of Meyer Lemon curd, and hope to do this with the Key Limes as well once I get to the store for more eggs.

Looks like my other love, Chocolate, has some competition!

I may not be a "Cupcake Queen", but...

2006-03-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

Damn, there is nothing better than a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and a big glass of milk to wash it down; especially when you baked it all by your little ol' self.

Luck o' the Irish

2006-03-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

I modified Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cupcake recipe to create this homage to the Emerald Isle: Bailey's Irish Cream with chocolate. I am going to take another stab at these sometime this week, as I want to increase the amount of both the chocolate and the liquor.

Would you believe Bailey's actually is a product of Ireland? I fully expected to see a New Jersey address on the label. Of course, it is imported through good ol' Stamford, Connecticut.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes
(Makes 12 regular cupcakes)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
confectioner’s sugar

Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Measure out milk, Bailey’s, and vanilla together. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine. Add about one third the milk mixture and beat until combined. Repeat, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake papers about half to three-quarters full (depending on whether you want flat or domed cupcakes). Bake for 20-22 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. When cool, sift confectioners’ sugar over the tops.

An idea forming in my brain...

2006-03-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about little unusual sweets lately. The oranges are so nice this time of year, and candied citrus peel sounded like a good idea. In the interest of having a unique garnish for a recipe I've been thinking about, I though of using a cookie cutter to make a shape with the orange peel.

Instant H2O, just add water!

2006-03-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

Check out this recipe on my favorite cooking site, Allrecipes.com

What the critics are saying...

2006-03-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

Riley gives the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting rave reviews!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Makes 18 regular cupcakes)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ounce red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Prepare muffin tins. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring. Set aside.
Combine the buttermilk, salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the cocoa mixture. Beat in the buttermilk mixture alternately with the flour, mixing just until incorporated. Stir together baking soda and vinegar, then gently fold into the cake batter.
Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted if lumpy
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor. Beat well or process until perfectly smooth and spreadable. Spread on cooled cupcakes and refrigerate until ready to serve.

YUM!

2006-03-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

The last one is especially for you, Wink. I heard you are very attached to your red bean cakes.

Get set...

2006-03-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, that's REALLY red. And I only used half of the food coloring the recipe called for.

Get ready...

2006-03-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

The gin is, in fact, not part of the recipe.

My Fortune Cookie

2006-03-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

I had lunch yesterday at the Long Life Noodle and Jook Joint (no jook for me that day, just noodles - pad thai, yum!)

Here is my fortune:

"A light heart carries you through all the hard times"

Can I get a collective, "Awwwwww"?

BTW... my lucky numbers are apparently 24, 34, 15, 2, 47, and 10.

So what's it to ya???

2006-02-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so what if it's the last day in February? I know I said I was baking the red velvet cake, and to some that might mean some loose association with Valentine's Day, which occurs in the month of February. Maybe I am just not so predictable, you know? Perhaps I'll be really wild and crazy and make Christmas cookies in March, bwahahahaha. So my legions of cyber-fans will just have to stay tuned, cuz you never know what I'm gonna do next. I could even make irish whiskey cake for St. Patrick's Day (thus being unpredictable by being predictable). It's just that exciting, my life!!! Woohoo!

Yeah, I suck

2006-02-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

That should be the name of my blog. It's been, hmmm almost two months since I last posted.

So in the spirit of some really great bloggers, I have decided that I must come up with a THEME. And so, my friends, I bring you... CAKE.

I propose to make a cake, from scratch, per month for the next year. This may involve several trials at each recipe until I get it right. I did not have the camera charged last week to show you the Red Velvet debacle. Suffice it to say, I have learned that parchment in the bottom of the cake pan is probably going to save my ass.

So stay tuned for Red Velvet, part deux.

the workplace food phenomenon

2005-12-14T10:07:00.001-08:00

i can only assume that this happens in every office environment...

at this time of year, we get a buttload of snacks, treats, sandwiches, etc. at the clinic. we are all jaded and come to expect such goodies regularly, but that is a separate issue.

the thing i notice about the sharing of munchies, not just around the holidays but all year long, is this: it appears as though no one is willing to take the last bite. last week, someone brought a half dozen krispy kreme donuts. the first five were consumed with gusto.

for the last donut (glazed, in case you are keeping score of such things), someone went to the trouble of finding a plastic knife and cut the little guy in half rather than taking the whole thing. the donut was reduced by halves throughout the remainder of the morning until there was a slice that measured about one-half inch in width. the little donut cross-section proceeded to sit there until it became stale (which, as it turns out, does not take long once you have reduced a krispy kreme donut to a few dozen molecules).

this morning, i came in to find that the tin of chocolate covered almonds one of our docs had received and then ditched in the "up for grabs" area (never set your lunch plate down on this spot while you run off the fetch a drink. anything that is found in this 2' x 2' space is fair game) had been reduced to a single morsel which also happened to be the runt of the litter. in an open display of rebellion, i ate it.

desparate times call for desparate measures.

cover tunes

2005-12-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

i don't know what it is about covers, but i love 'em. old tunes, new tunes; it's like taking your favorite food and giving it a twist... like trying sweet potato french fries on vacation. here's a few i like...

such great heights, performed by iron & wine (was postal service)
aiko aiko, performed by anyone (i don't even know who gets the original credit)
anything by me first and the gimme gimmes

"the reason for the season"

2005-12-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

does anyone else see the irony of these groups who want major retailers to alter their seasonal marketing from "holiday sales" to "christmas sales"? are these not the same people who, in recent years, have lamented how christians have lost touch with the true meaning of christmas? geez!