Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Hey all! Just a quick update.
I joined Bloglovin! I don't know if any of you use it, but basically it what I term the girl version of The Awesomer. Not to say that The Awesomer is inherently "male", but instead that Bloglovin is more of a food lover, fashion lover, blog stalkers dream. So head on over and follow me!
Friday, August 22, 2014
Thursday, August 14, 2014
An Update, with Cookies
Where have I been? Where have I been. Around I guess. My inspiration for blogging just sort of fell through. That isn't to say that my desire to blog was not there (I think about it almost everyday), but I couldn't summon the urge to write a post.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Lemon-Poppy Seed Biscotti
I like rituals. They give me a peace of mind. They settle me into a permanence that I can take comfort in. It's not that I don't like change; instead, it is because rituals excite change that I like them. I love the ritual of coffee, the familiarity of its taste. I used to have a working espresso machine, and I must say, it was one of the best purchases I made. I used to enjoy grinding the coffee beans, packing my espresso, and watching it extract to form a crema. I enjoyed how hands-on the process was, how involved I had to be to get my morning cup. With it broken (R.I.P), I now must resort to buying espresso, and while it is no great inconvenience, it is expensive.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Brown Butter, Sesame Seed Banana Bread
Sometimes, I feel homeless. Not in the sense that I do not have a home--I do--but because I do not have a space that is all mine. Is that selfish? To have a comfortable home surrounded by people you love and yet still feel discontent?
I don't know.
But the thing is I share everything. My room, my closet, my bed. There isn't a corner that is mine to personalize or a space to escape to.
Once I moved away from home to go to college, and since then came back, home has not felt like home used to. I have been told that once you move away coming back is not the same and I do believe that. Eventually I will be able to afford my own place, or at least space, but until then I will have to quiet myself with knowing that all things have their time.
There are certain smells whose essence conjures the nostalgia of home. Fresh baked banana bread is one of those. It smells of warm, ripe bananas, cinnamon and clove. This is a one bowl, no mess bake that requires some old bananas and no patience. Just mix with a spoon, bake, cool, eat. I like baking like this: simple, no frills.
This recipe is a combination of here, here, and here. This recipe is my go to banana bread at all times. We used to make it all the time at the restaurant. I wanted to add a little something extra to it this time though, and since I love brown butter and sesame seeds, I decided to combine everything into one bread. If you don't have sesame seeds, don't worry, its not essential. However, I will admit that their nuttiness adds something extra to this bread. Ripe bananas are a must, so buy some extra bananas next time you are at the grocery store and give them a few days on the counter.
Brown Butter, Sesame Seed Banana Bread
In one bowl combine
3-4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup browned butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
pinch of clove
1 1/2 cup of A.P flour
1/4 mixed sesame seeds
Bake at 350 for 40-50 min until toothpick in center comes out clean.
I don't know.
But the thing is I share everything. My room, my closet, my bed. There isn't a corner that is mine to personalize or a space to escape to.
Once I moved away from home to go to college, and since then came back, home has not felt like home used to. I have been told that once you move away coming back is not the same and I do believe that. Eventually I will be able to afford my own place, or at least space, but until then I will have to quiet myself with knowing that all things have their time.
There are certain smells whose essence conjures the nostalgia of home. Fresh baked banana bread is one of those. It smells of warm, ripe bananas, cinnamon and clove. This is a one bowl, no mess bake that requires some old bananas and no patience. Just mix with a spoon, bake, cool, eat. I like baking like this: simple, no frills.
This recipe is a combination of here, here, and here. This recipe is my go to banana bread at all times. We used to make it all the time at the restaurant. I wanted to add a little something extra to it this time though, and since I love brown butter and sesame seeds, I decided to combine everything into one bread. If you don't have sesame seeds, don't worry, its not essential. However, I will admit that their nuttiness adds something extra to this bread. Ripe bananas are a must, so buy some extra bananas next time you are at the grocery store and give them a few days on the counter.
Brown Butter, Sesame Seed Banana Bread
In one bowl combine
3-4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup browned butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
pinch of clove
1 1/2 cup of A.P flour
1/4 mixed sesame seeds
Bake at 350 for 40-50 min until toothpick in center comes out clean.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
New Glasses
I've never bought glasses online. I must admit, I was kind of nervous, thinking that the prescription wouldn't be right or that they wouldn't fit my face. But, I was wrong. BonLook makes the process of buying glasses online so easy and painless that I doubt I will ever buy glasses anywhere else again.
You can virtually try on all glasses to see which one fits your face best, and if you don't like the glasses, you can return them for free!
Plus, if you sign up for their e-mail promotions you will get coupons as well as the occasional free sunglasses.
I'm not a huge promoter/advertiser, but when it comes to something I thoroughly enjoy/believe in, I feel like I should share.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Travel: Weekend in Atlanta
This past weekend myself and a few friends decided to pack our bags and drive to Atlanta. I had always wanted to visit the Aquarium and since we couldn't think of a could reason not to go, we all decided to just do it.
It was a weekend packed with food, sight-seeing, and hiking. While in a way I am glad to be back home, I also miss the excitement of travel.
My favorite part to the trip had to be the Georgia Aquarium. Recently bumped down to the 2nd largest aquarium in the world, the Georgia Aquarium does not disappoint. I could sit for hours watching the whale sharks swim. The price is relatively affordable for all you get to see, and if you are in town for more than a few days, I recommend the city pass. Go early if you can because the lines get long and if you can avoid it, don't go on a weekend.
Next on our list was The World of Coca-Cola. To be honest I am not a huge coke drinker, so going here was more for the novelty of saying I had been. Would I go back? No, probably not. But, if you have never been I would recommend going only because the price is cheap and you do learn a lot about the history of Coke as well as all the ways they trail-blazed advertising. Also, you get to sample all the coke products you want from around the world. This one was my favorite.
Since we only had a few days we were limited in what we could do. We did visit the infamous Vortex Burger (and we waited over an hour for a table.) I went in to pastry heaven, attempting to sample every bakery I could get my hands on. Octane Coffee had my favorite pastries, if only because of how cheap and cute they were. If I lived in Atlanta, I would probably find myself going there regularly. I also went to my first ever improv show. We decided on Dad's Garage. The atmosphere was intimate, the location convenient, and I would recommend going to anyone looking to have an inexpensive good time.
All in all, I really enjoyed Atlanta. There is so much to see and do. If you are close (or even if you aren't close) do try and go. You won't be disappointed.
P.S:
Stone Mountain. Don't be like me and think it is just some rinky-dink rock that you can get away with
wearing riding boots to climb. Big mistake. Wear comfy shoes and enjoy the gorgeous views.
It was a weekend packed with food, sight-seeing, and hiking. While in a way I am glad to be back home, I also miss the excitement of travel.
My favorite part to the trip had to be the Georgia Aquarium. Recently bumped down to the 2nd largest aquarium in the world, the Georgia Aquarium does not disappoint. I could sit for hours watching the whale sharks swim. The price is relatively affordable for all you get to see, and if you are in town for more than a few days, I recommend the city pass. Go early if you can because the lines get long and if you can avoid it, don't go on a weekend.
Since we only had a few days we were limited in what we could do. We did visit the infamous Vortex Burger (and we waited over an hour for a table.) I went in to pastry heaven, attempting to sample every bakery I could get my hands on. Octane Coffee had my favorite pastries, if only because of how cheap and cute they were. If I lived in Atlanta, I would probably find myself going there regularly. I also went to my first ever improv show. We decided on Dad's Garage. The atmosphere was intimate, the location convenient, and I would recommend going to anyone looking to have an inexpensive good time.
All in all, I really enjoyed Atlanta. There is so much to see and do. If you are close (or even if you aren't close) do try and go. You won't be disappointed.
P.S:
Stone Mountain. Don't be like me and think it is just some rinky-dink rock that you can get away with
wearing riding boots to climb. Big mistake. Wear comfy shoes and enjoy the gorgeous views.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Let's Talk Bread: Chocolate Sourdough
Sometimes life gets you down. You begin your day just fine, going about your usual activities, anticipating the moment when you get to release from the stress of the day and enjoy yourself, until suddenly--no--there is no release, everything has changed, and the moments before are now so long ago, and so strange.
This week has been a whammy of emotions. I made this sourdough last week before I got caught up in the panic of time. I had wanted to make this bread on Valentine's Day but it never worked out. I've been having an issue recently with all of my sourdough breads coming out too dense. You can see in the pictures that the dough is what I call "tight": little to no airbubbles, with the insides compressing together. Although the particulars of the bread are not perfect, the flavor is spot on.
I love a chocolate, crusty bread. It's like two worlds melting into one, where you want to say that it shouldn't work but somehow it does, and it tastes so good.
The dough is not sweet. There is no sugar in this recipe. The slight sweetness comes from the occasional chocolate chunk or cranberry, but other than that, it is just dark, rich chocolate with a tang of sour.
Because I used cocoa powder, I added instant yeast. Cocoa powder can inhibit the natural yeasts in your starter, so the instant yeast helps it along. Fold in the chocolate chunks and cranberries at the end, do not do so during kneading or you will tear your gluten.
Bake this and be prepared for your house to fill up with the aroma of warm, melting chocolate and dark crusty bread.
Chocolate Cranberry Sourdough
1250g Bread Flour
.75L Starter
112g Cocoa Powder
36g Salt
11g Instant yeast
65g Coffee, cool
500g Old Dough
500g Chocolate Chunks
500g Cranberries
add water to right consistency (window-pane).
Mix and knead all of your ingredients together. I chill this overnight and then let it rest the next day before baking. Bake at 450 with steam until dark.
I love a chocolate, crusty bread. It's like two worlds melting into one, where you want to say that it shouldn't work but somehow it does, and it tastes so good.
The dough is not sweet. There is no sugar in this recipe. The slight sweetness comes from the occasional chocolate chunk or cranberry, but other than that, it is just dark, rich chocolate with a tang of sour.
Because I used cocoa powder, I added instant yeast. Cocoa powder can inhibit the natural yeasts in your starter, so the instant yeast helps it along. Fold in the chocolate chunks and cranberries at the end, do not do so during kneading or you will tear your gluten.
Bake this and be prepared for your house to fill up with the aroma of warm, melting chocolate and dark crusty bread.
Chocolate Cranberry Sourdough
1250g Bread Flour
.75L Starter
112g Cocoa Powder
36g Salt
11g Instant yeast
65g Coffee, cool
500g Old Dough
500g Chocolate Chunks
500g Cranberries
add water to right consistency (window-pane).
Mix and knead all of your ingredients together. I chill this overnight and then let it rest the next day before baking. Bake at 450 with steam until dark.
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