Thursday, April 22, 2010
(Source)
Do you like being labeled a “foodie”?
Hello my name is Clara. And I’m a foodie! w00t w00t
“Foodie” is like a badge of honor for me. Because you didn’t know me before I was a foodie. Ramen, Blue Box Mac & Cheese and delivery pizza were my dinner specialties. My poor husband. He didn’t marry me for my domestic skills. That’s for sure!
But look at me now! I’m making my own pizza crust. No more crust in a pop can for me. I know how to baste, broil, grill and bake a chicken breast. I make a mean meatball. I can make gnocchi from scratch. I’m not afraid to bake (almost) anything. {Macarons are still my nemesis! *violently shaking fists*} I love the smell of fresh chopped garlic on my fingertips. I’d rather have the newest kitchen appliance than a diamond pearl necklace. I have more cookbooks than chick lit. I don’t get baking power and baking soda mixed up anymore. Need I go on?
Now I know there are some Foodies-That-Don’t-Wanna-Be-Called-Foodies that are less enthusiastic about the term. And I don’t understand why. Is it that they don’t wanna be labeled? I’m not trying to be snarky. I’m just trying to understand.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Recently I received an email from my dear friend, Natalie of The Bobby Pin. And if you’ll allow me, I’d like to share an excerpt from it with my readers.
I’ve been thinking a lot about beauty lately. How I’ve heard new mothers say that they’ve never felt more beautiful after having a baby, when at the same time, they know they don’t look it. Or how runners call a run “beautiful” and I look at them like they are crazy.
Lately I’ve been feeling down on myself for one thing or another — and even though I am hating myself in pictures and the mirror — the other day I felt my hair brush across my shoulder and thought “wow, it is getting so long and pretty!” or I catch myself feeling proud of what I’m doing, where I’m at, etc. and I feel beautiful.
So I’d like to ask [you] “What makes you feel beautiful?” or “What does beautiful mean to you?”
It seems like such a simple question.
But I’ve been struggling to answer it for the last 7 days. It’s not as simple as I thought. Nowadays I don’t feel like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I feel like TV, movies, magazines and other social media dictate what beautiful means. I have more days than not when I feel unpretty because I don’t have Beyonce’s curvaceous butt or Angelina Jolie’s lips or Marisa Miller’s long sexy legs or Jessica Alba’s abs or Kate Hudson’s blonde hair.
As for me. I have a round pinchable cheeks. My BMI is bordering on obese (although I protest that most of it is probably my chest). I have child bearing hips (ironically I don’t want kids though). I have big muscular calves. I have love handles. My thighs touch. I can’t remember the last time I saw muscles in my abs.
But you know what? My husband says I’m beautiful. I think he has love googles on. It’s a term my friend uses, that I adopted, that means love colored glasses.
So to answer my friend’s question.
“What makes you feel beautiful?”
When my husband looks at me with intense eyes through his love googles. I can feel the way he looks at me. It’s not about artificial beauty. There’s something so pure and honest about it. I wish he could share his love googles with me so I can see what he sees. I hope he never takes them off. Obviously what he sees is different than what I see. Maybe beauty IS still in the eye of the beholder.
It must be. Because I think my friend, Natalie, is beautiful. It actually shocked me to get her email. Isn’t that ironic?
Now I ask my readers the same question.
I hope you don’t mind if I forward your answers (comments) to Natalie for her Beautiful Project or feel free to email her if you’d like to be included in her weekly roundup. Because beauty, no matter how you define it, is meant to be shared.
xo
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Even though I consider myself a California girl through and through, I was actually born in Kansas. Technically I believe Kansas is a Midwestern state but during my childhood Gone With The Wind stage I use to pretend that Kansas was a southern state which made me a southern belle like Scarlett O’Hara by birth. Now every good southern belle knows biscuits. But I’m a bad example of that. I’ve eaten my fair share of fried chicken and biscuits but the only biscuit I’ve ever baked was the Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits, my very first TWD week. Wow. I feel like things are coming full circle.
This week the Tuesday With Dorie bakers are channeling their inner southern belle by baking up some biscuits. Not just any old biscuits. Sweet Creamy Biscuits hosted by Melissa of Love At First Bite. You can find the complete recipe on her blog. She served her biscuits with sausage gravy and hash browns. Mmm… I could really go for some hash browns right about now. Fried potato shavings is never wrong.
What I learned this week:
Small townhouse plus high oven temperature minus forgetting to turn exhaust vent on = fire alarms going off, scaring the dog and neighbor running to my house screaming “Fire!! Fire!!” But I’m happy to say that giving a biscuit to the dog and my neighbor eventually calmed the situation. (True story.)
Sweet Cream Biscuits on page 23
Dorie says you can use 2 cups AP flour or 1-3/4 cup AP flour+1/3 cup cake flour. I decided to go with the 2 flours b/c I love me some cake flour.
Dorie gives you a range of 1 to 1-1/4 cup cold heavy cream until you get the soft dough consistency. I ended up using all 1-1/4 cup.
Somehow I misread the part where you’re suppose to roll out the dough to 1/2inch thickness b/c I thought it said 1inch so my biscuits are “meatier” than they are suppose to be. Oops! Since I don’t have a biscuit cutter (bad southern belle!) I just used my 2inch cookie cutter instead.
Baked in 475F oven for 15 minutes and the bottoms were a little burned. Black bottoms are only good in cupcakes. Next time I’ll bake them for maybe 12 minutes instead.
ENJOY!
Husband rating: N/A
Wifey rating: A
I really think that cake flour gave these biscuits a soft fluffy texture. It was amazing right out of the oven. I didn’t even need any spread. I ate 3 biscuits plain while writing this blog post.
Next week: Chockablock cookies page 86
Oh one more thing.
GREAT NEWS!! (No Mom, I’m not pregnant.)
Today me and the Hubs are officially credit card DEBT FREE! It took years of saving and due diligence but we sent off our last $7500 payment to Visa yesterday. I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to cut that credit card in half. Like a huge 100lb dollar sign weight lifted off my shoulders. For anyone else out there struggling with debt, there’s no short cut. You have to stop using your credit and start paying more than the minimum payment every month. Hubs and I made a commitment 1 year ago to live on one salary and use my salary to go towards the credit card. Instead of paying the minimums, we were paying 3-4x the minimums. Interest is the enemy! Did you know that on $7500, only paying the minimum, it would take you 35 years to pay it off? THIRTY FIVE YEARS!! Think about it. //getting off soapbox now
Thank you President Obama and the First Time Home Buyer Credit. I know we would have eventually done it without you but you brought us to our debt free goal 1 year sooner and we got a new home with the deal! Win-win!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
I’m sick. And it sucks. My head feels heavy. My nose is so stuffy I can’t breathe. My cough is wreaking havoc on my throat. I can barely talk without sneezing.
IT’S ALL MY HUSBAND’S FAULT!!
He’s the one that was sick on Monday. He’s the one that kept hugging and kissing me (Can you blame him? I’m just so cute!) and spread his nasty cold germs. He’s the one that forgot our tent so we had to sleep in the cold “porch” area of our friends’ tent when we went camping last weekend. (True story.)
My cranky cuz I’m sick rant makes me think of (this) poem by Shel Silverstein. It’s one of my favs. That one and Sarah Cynthia Silva Stout one. I think if I ever have a daughter, I’m naming her Sarah Cynthia Silva Stout. Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have any plans to have kids, eh? HA HA!
Even though I’m not feeling 100%, I knew I couldn’t skip this week. Other than the fact that I skipped the last 2 weeks and I don’t wanna get kicked out of the group, our host this week is Nancy of The Dogs Eat The Crumbs and she’s one of my favorite Tuesdays With Dorie bakers. (You can find the complete recipe on her blog.) I fondly call her The Issac Newton Baker (in my head) b/c she always seems to have a knack for coming up with the ingredient weight equivalent for any increase or decrease you could want for any TWD recipe. You can see some evidence of her mathematical prowess on this week’s P&Q (here). Basically. The chick’s a nerd after my own heart. *muah*
I usually bake with the intent of giving my goods away but since there’s the whole “sick” thing this week, I didn’t wanna get family, friends, neighbors sick so I HAD TO eat it all myself (It’s a hard knock life, eh?) along with the help of my husband. He took one (or 2) for the team.
What I learned this week:
I WANT a cast iron skillet. I want. I want. I want.
Swedish Visiting Cake-lettes pages 196-197
I’m kinda in love with my microplane. Sshhh! Don’t tell Ginger Spice (my kitchenaid mixer)! She’s a red head and the jealous type.
Love the smell of lemon zest infused sugar. Just something so clean and fresh about it. *deep inhale* I forgot that I halved the recipe and used 1 whole lemon zest. But I think it worked out better b/c I could taste the lemon and I feel like if I hadn’t doubled the lemon the almond extract may have overpowered it.
In goes the vanilla extract and almond extract. Don’t skip the almond extract. I thought the almond extract just pumped up the flavor of this cake. Wouldn’t be the same without it IMO.
Um.. uh… What butter… ??? *avoiding eye contact with the pool of butter*
Since I don’t have a cast iron skillet (Don’t worry! I plan to remedy that the next time I got to Sur La Table) I opted to use my mini tart pans instead.
I halved the recipe and got 3-4inch mini tarts. I filled them almost to the top of the tart pan. Even though this recipe doesn’t have any baking soda/powder it does rise a little so I’m glad I left a little bit of space at the top. I baked for 20 minutes. Perfect!
ENJOY!
Husband rating: A+
I wasn’t kidding when I said he took one for the team. He ate 2 of the tarts and 1/2 of the 3rd one. I’d say that means he liked it. I think that may have knocked the Apple Pie Cake out of the number 1 spot now.
Wifey rating: A+
Who says that simple can’t be absolutely the most AH-MAZE-ING cake ever? If I can do it 1/2 delirious, doped up on Nyquil and hallucinating about giant jelly beans, anyone can do it! It was moist and I love the lemon and almond flavors. The crunch from the silvered almonds and sweetness from the sugar on top were SO good. It was so easy to make that I could see making these anytime I want something sweet. This one is definitely in the top 5 list!
Next week: Sweet Cream Biscuits page 23
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Two words.
Childhood hunger.
I know you’ve seen the sponsored commercials on TV or Sandra Lee on your 10lb C&H sugar bag right? I know I have. It always makes me stop and think of my own life. How lucky I am. I never wonder where my next meal is coming from. Can you even imagine if you had to? I ask myself “What can I do?”
My fellow blogger, Gaby of What’s Gaby Cooking didn’t just ask but took it one step further. She DID something! She decided to take Sandra Lee’s bake sale message and expand it nationwide to all the baking bloggers out there. How genius is that?!!
So there you have it. National Food Bloggers Bake Sale was born.
Please click (here) to find out if there’s a bake sale in your area. Contact your area’s bake sale organizer to see what YOU can do to help. Don’t be shy! If you are in the Kentucky area, my lil baby Adopt-A-Blogger, Melissa, is organizing a bake sale at Georgetown Kite and Culture Festival from 10am – 2pm! *sniff* They grow up so fast…
If you can’t participate in a bake sale, please think about donating (here). Every $1 helps!
I’ll be at the Los Angeles, CA bake sale with Gaby and many other AWESOME bloggers at Morel’s French Steakhouse and Bistro from 10:30am – 1:30pm. I’d love to have some of my local readers come out, buy a cupcake (or 5!) and support me in ending Childhood Hunger! I’ll be the one that actually looks like she eats cupcakes. HA! Be there or be trapezoid. *readers groan*
Ok. Post about National Food Bloggers Bake sale. CHECK.
Next item on the post-it: figure out what cupcakes to bake!
Should I go classic vanilla, rainbow or cutesy decorated (think Hello, Cupcake inspired)?
Help me decide, readers!
RSS
Share
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Subscribe via Email
Follow Me on Twitter
