Why haven’t I been posting lately? Because I’ve been busy constructing elaborate solutions to keep my refrigerator from popping open for no reason. This is actually Refrigerator Solution 3.0. I kid you not.
Also, be kind and ignore the marks left by my grubby hands. Not only was I too lazy to wipe it off before I took the picture, but I was also too lazy to clean it up in Photoshop.
To represent all the military graveyards my parents took me and my sisters to all over Europe when we were growing up, I baked a delicious batch of chocolate frosted cupcakes and decorated them with little white chocolate crosses. Nostalgic, appropriate and yummy, they were a huge hit at the bbq.
Here’s the recipe—it’s definitely a keeper. To save time, I just used my trusty Duncan Hines whipped chocolate frosting.
Since my buddy Dan has a severe allergy to soy, I went looking for a good veggie patty recipe. I discovered the Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe and gave it a try.
Of course, I made a few low-budget/convenience modifications to the recipe for obvious reasons. Instead of fresh garbanzos, I had my cheapo cans of beans, regular salt and left out the micro sprouts.
It was a success! I fried up the patties in my trusty large iron skillet, made a yummy sandwich and saved the rest of the remaining patties in the fridge for later. They were just as delicious the following day on a bed of spinach salad and slices of cherry tomatoes.
I get such a kick out of feeding my friends. I can’t tell if it’s a Latin thing, a Southern thing or just the way I was brought up, but there’s something so satisfying about brightening up someone’s day with a little homemade something-or-other. Because of this, I’ve learned that I’m not really friends with finicky eaters. Finicky eaters are usually finicky people, I’ve found.
Also, now that I feel more comfortable with this recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes, I’ve decided to try and kick the aesthetics up a notch with some red-dyed sugar sprinkled on top of the frosting for fancy effect. And it must have worked because when I brought these cupcakes over to a friend’s place for dinner, it was mistakenly assumed that they were store bought.
A sudden craving for chocolate cake resulted in me whipping up a Duncan Hines instant creation. It wasn’t from scratch, but I did add a thin layer of jelly and fruit in between the two cake layers to give it an extra something. And judging from the reaction on Dan’s face after he took his first bite, I’d say I hit the mark. As you can see, it’s already halfway gone. I figured I’d better take pictures before it disappeared completely. Which is in about five minutes.
All these commercials on TV for Burger King and Jack in the Box’s mini-burgers had me hankering for some myself. So I grabbed some dinner rolls from the grocery store and used my trusty turkey burger recipe to make these little sliders.
With a side salad of tasty strawberry tomatoes purchased this weekend at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and spinach, it turns out three is the magic number of baby-sized burgers that Dan and I each ended up eating. They were delicious and I’m guessing fairly healthy, since that Jennie-O ground turkey is all over The Biggest Loser and stuff.
It was all I could do to keep myself from making a cake to top off the evening. Thankfully, I was pretty tired. But next time, I’m going to employ the baking tin for mini-cupcakes I bought the other week from Bed Bath & Beyond so Dan and I can enjoy a well-balanced tiny meal.
After our brief warm spell last week, I was so bummed out at the impending approach of summer. I am not a big fan of the heat. In fact, my worst nightmare features me trapped in the desert without sunscreen or water. *Shudder* So I was overjoyed when things returned back to the 70-something degree perfection to which I had grown accustomed. And to celebrate, I spent Sunday afternoon at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market with Kathy.
I’d breezed through the market once before, but this was the first time I actually slowed down to check out the wares. Unfortunately, I discovered that I’m still not a big fan of crowds. Luckily for me, the people-watching was prime. I’m convinced that men with waists as big as my thigh in skinny jeans were created for the sole purpose of amusing me.
These days, I’m more of a frozen vegetables kind of girl, but I did manage to pick up some delicious strawberry tomatoes and pledged to return with Kathy for more produce next time. She was an expert tour guide, informing me of which vendor sold the cheapest bok choy and encouraging me to sample as much as possible.
More than anything, I loved photographing the lush, vibrant colored fruits and vegetables. I can’t remember what his reasoning was, but my mother has always told me that her father was mildly obsessed with owning a produce stand. That would certainly help to explain why I’m so into taking pictures of food.
Earlier this week, I decided I would make red velvet cupcakes at some point this weekend. A little treat to myself after a long week.
Googling “classic red velvet cupcake recipe,” I stumbled upon a blog I’m adding to my list of blogs to check out on a regular basis, Brownies for Breakfast. As an added bonus, she happens to live in Savannah, coincidentally my hometown (well, Richmond Hill, to be exact.)
Her red velvet recipe was simple and ended up being very delicious. The only thing I would caution is that you take care when mixing up the ingredients because I didn’t realize I was spattering the batter and ended up with what looked like a mini murder scene. Luckily, I was dressed in all-black, which I would recommend you do any time you decide to mix these up.
But I give the recipe two thumbs up. I used whipped cream cheese frosting from Duncan Hines, since I had a coupon for the stuff and wasn’t feeling quite homemaker enough to whip it up from scratch. Also, I wonder if it’s because the batter is so liquid that the cupcakes end up being so dense and filling. After just two, I was actually full, which was quite amazing.
Here’s a link to Everything old is new again: red velvet cupcakes.
I’ve been obsessively making S’mores lately. Through trial and error, I figured out that the best way to do it is placing the marshmallows and chocolate pieces on the graham crackers in the toaster oven and baking them at 450° for 5 minutes. It’s perfect, that is, unless you pull the tray out a little too far and the whole shebang falls into the sink.
Luckily, I was able to salvage one of them, which I gratefully ate. It was probably all the more delicious, given the fact that I almost ended up with nothing.
I’m realizing that this site is running the risk of turning into straight food porn, with a particular emphasis on baked goods, but I felt like this amazing cupcake from Aroma on Tujunga in Studio City was too good not to share. It was an April Fool’s Day indulgence and much-needed in the wake of some bad news.
So I first made these muffins for Ben’s Indian pulled pork party last week, using up the last of my frozen blueberries in the freezer, along with some raspberries and blackberries. For those who are interested, here’s the recipe I used, with a few alterations:
Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup butter, softened (I didn’t have enough butter, so I did half butter and half cream cheese)
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup milk
* 2 cups flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 cups fresh blueberries, (may use frozen) – I jazzed this up with a mix of raspberry, blackberry and cherries
* 2 tablespoons sugar, for topping
Preparation:
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well; stir in milk. Combine dry ingredients and add to the mixture; stir to combine. Gently fold in blueberries. Fill greased muffin cups about 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with a little sugar. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Makes about 12 muffins.
They’re yum, yum, yummy and I recommend eating three at once, preferably covered in a thin sheen of butter. I think next time, though, I’m going to experiment using some apple sauce in the mix, to try and get them extra moist.
I’m not even going to try and figure out exactly what I ate over the weekend. There was something about the cold, rainy weather that triggered some switch in my brain, passing along the signal to my stomach that entrees that came with fries and a milkshake were absolutely necessary for my survival. It’s not my fault—it was merely biology. I just stood aside and let my body do its thing.
But yes, I probably won’t be having another weekend like this anytime soon. Unless I do really want to go through with my plan of gaining a ton of weight, so that I can compete on The Biggest Loser.
BEFORE…
…and AFTER!
Lest a beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles go to waste, the opportune weather provided the perfect excuse for an al fresco brunch with my friends Mike Wilson and Donnetta.
The three of us met up, moving from one shady spot to another to avoid any direct sunlight that might try to shine on Donnetta’s new neck tattoo.
As it always happens when I visit The Abbey in West Hollywood, I’m inexplicably compelled to photograph the giant, red, glass…THING that hangs over the front bar. It’s just so fascinating to me.
I always wonder what would happen to it in the case of a really bad earthquake. Also, do they ever get a chance to dust it? I can’t imagine one of the sinewy, perfectly-primped bartenders trying to climb up on the bar in their tight jeans and teen-sized tank tops with a feather duster in one hand and a bottle of Windex in the other.
At the end of the meal, Michael reminded me that it was my belated birthday brunch. It doesn’t get much better than that.
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