As most of you have heard by now, there is a new movie in theaters, “Julie and Julia”, based on the book written by Julie Powell. I had not heard of the book until seeing the movie preview, and immediately decided to read it. Being a food blogger myself (albeit a sporadic and quite inexperienced one), I had an inkling that a book like this would be right up my alley. So, after obtaining my large type copy from the library (the normal size type copies were all checked out. guess i wasn’t the only one intrigued by this story), I set out to read about Julie’s quest in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I was not all that impressed. It could have been Julie’s crassness and frequent vulgarity (ie: constant use of the F word, which may have been used to show her true personality, but was not really all that necessary, and will definitely not appear to the more reserved, conservative reader group), but the story itself was a bit hard to follow, since she often jumped back and forth between present and past events. In some ways, I could relate to her – a young woman looking for purpose in life. But mostly, I was not all that inspired by her story. There were a few gems of promise here and there, and while a quick read, it wasn’t necessarily a book I found myself looking forward to reading every evening. I do have quite a bit of admiration for her stamina, though, and her endurance. I once vowed to make every recipe in my cookie cookbook, The Cookie Bible (I have made several recipes, but am nowhere near done!) but let’s face it, cookies and French cooking are two very different animals. The fact that Julie stuck it out til the end AND blogged in detail about it is quite a feat in itself. Ok, so in truth, maybe it did inspire me a little bit. I know that it definitely made me want to bake and blog more. But it also made me want to see the movie. I’m pretty sure it will be better than the book, or at least more entertaining. I’m wondering whether readers will also find the movie better than the book. Has anyone else read the book first and is hoping the movie will be better?

on saturday, may 23, my boyfriend’s good friend Bobby died in a motorcycle accident. when i heard the news, i was in total shock. Bobby was not only Andrew’s good friend, but he was my friend, too. he was like a big brother to all of our friends. he was the ringleader of our group and kept us all together. he was truly a unique, special and genuine person. he will be, and already is, greatly missed.

this is the first time in my life i have experienced such sudden loss. it’s hard. it’s excruciating at times. it’s confusing. in times like this, i am reminded that our human minds are not able to fully comprehend the tragedies and complexities of this world. and as much as i want to understand why this happened, i find peace knowing that Bobby is with the Lord in heaven and yes, one day, i will see him again. praise God for that.

Bobby and me, February 2008

Awakening
by: Mae

When I close my eyes to this paradox place
I’ll fly away, far away from here
I’ll get away and dream, dream of you

When it’s all said and done
And the night has come
I’ll disappear, take flight on the wind of wishing you were here
Fading light, like a star whose life has been gone for years

And I’ll fly, fly across the sky
And I’ll leave, I’ll leave it all behind
If you’ll be here, here with me tonight
I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine
I’ll be fine

*Bobby Rambo//8.21.84-5.23.09*

After a cold and damp April that never seemed to end, May is finally here, and today, I woke up to a glorious burst of sunshine brightening my bedroom. It has rained here for the past 5  or 6 days, so to wake up to sunlight was a beautiful thing.

My baking posts have been lacking as of late, partially due to laziness, and the rest due to my attempts to eat healtier and avoid those decadent baked goods that make dieting even more difficult than it already is. The sad thing is, I cannot even remember the last thing I baked! But, I assure you that I will eventually come up with something to post – I’ll be sure to make it a good one, since my baking posts are not so frequent as of late.

All in all, my life has come to this – I’m ready for an adventure. Who’s with me?

“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.”

-Victor Hugo

A few weeks ago marked the one year anniversary of my relationship with my boyfriend Andrew. I’m not usually a fan of making a big deal out of anniversaries and such, but since neither one of us had been in a relationship that had lasted longer than 3 months, it was a pretty big deal. Needless to say, I figured a nice thing to do for him would of course involve baking something. Now, somehow I found me a man that does not have a huge obsession with chocolate and desserts as I do. How this happened, I do not know. I guess it’s a good thing, since I won’t be pressured to constantly bake things for him that I myself will end up eating large amounts of; but, at the same time, it’s kind of a downer since I LOVE to bake, and I love to share my baked goods with the people that I love. To his credit, Andrew does always enjoy what I bake, and gladly eats it, just not as often as I would like. He’s not a big chocolate person, but he does like cheesecake and he likes key lime pie. I was going to just go with making him the key lime pie, since I had never made one before, but then I found the recipe for lime cheesecake and decided it was the perfect compromise. Or, so I thought…

The moment I told him, all excitedly, that I made him a lime cheesecake, he looked at me kinda strange as if I had made something no one had ever heard of or eaten. Admittedly, lime cheesecake is not a popular dessert, but it’s definitely been done before. I reassured him that he would definitely like it. He didn’t. OK, he said he did, but I still don’t believe him. He didn’t even eat a whole piece, he just tasted mine. His argument was that he couldn’t taste the cheesecake because the lime flavor was so strong. Huh? I have no idea what that means. All that matters is, I thought it was delicious. My dad did, too, since he ate the rest of it pretty much singlehandedly.

Long story short: if you like lime and you like cheescake, you will most defintely like this recipe. Unless, of course, your name is Andrew and you’ve been dating me for the last year:)

I have to brag about the aesthetics of my cheesecake. Notice how the top is not cracked? That’s because I followed this simple little trick: Fill a shallow pan with hot water and place on the rack under the cheesecake while it’s baking. It totally works!

Lime Cheesecake
recipe from allrecipes

It’s been awhile, I know – I apologize for the hiatus! not that many people follow this blog religiously, but if you are one of the chosen few who do check this blog often – i’m sorry for only updating every couple of weeks. as much as I wish I was a dedicated food blogger, I’m just not!

I don’t have any specific recipes for you, but some pictures of previous experiments. First, due to some complaints that the chocolate cookies I made a few posts ago were “too rich” or “too chocolately” (seriously??), I decided to bake a batch with a little less chocolate. I used a basic Nestle Toll House cookie rccipe, but I added the same three kinds of chocolate chips that I used for the chocolate cookies. I highly recommend using Ghiradelli chips – they really are worth it.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few Saturdays ago, I had planned to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast, but when I realized how expensive blueberries were, I bought some strawberries instead. With some cream cheese and Texas toast, my mom and I made some delicious stuffed French toast. You definitely need to use a thick bread for this – Texas toast is perfect. Simply cut it halfway down the middle, and stuff it with a large spoonful of cream cheese mixed with strawberries. Dip these in eggs, milk, cinnamon, and sugar, and cook on the griddle. Top with powdered sugar and whipped cream. Quite indulgent, I know, but perfect for brunch, or a special breakfast for two:)

Stuffed French Toast with Strawberries

This cookie is amazing. I’m not even kidding. It’s FABULOUS.
Ok, maybe I’m a bit biased, since I (somewhat) created it myself. But, if you like chocolate (lots and lots of it), you will love this cookie. I guarantee it.

I created this recipe using a “Design Your Own Chocolate Cookies” recipe from The Cookie Bible.
I had a variety of chocolate chips at my disposal, so I wanted to put them to good use.

The basic recipe is:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
Any choc chip of your choice

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat well.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until sent. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Here is my modified recipe, which I like to call ‘Amazingly Fabulous Chocolatey Chocolate Cookies’

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter-flavored Crisco stick
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
about half a bag each of: semi-sweet choc chips, Ghiradelli bittersweet choc chips, and Ghiradelli white choc chips

I modified this recipe for a few reasons. First, I used a Crisco stick instead of another stick of butter because it adds a lightness and a nice crispiness to the cookie. Second, I used more brown sugar than granulated sugar, because it makes the cookies more chewy and more soft. Third, I used almond extract, because almond and chocolate go well together – and, admittedly, I had no vanilla extract on hand. Finally, I used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa instead of regular because, well, dark chocolate is just realllly good – and also, better for you.

This cookie is somewhat rich – but if you’re a true chocolate lover, I think you will find this cookie pretty close to perfection.

Prayer

Faithful God, trusting in you,

we begin

the forty days of conversion and penance.

Give us the strength for Christian discipline,

that we may renounce evil

and be decisive in doing good.

We ask this through Jesus Christ.

Amen

-taken from Henri Nouwen’s “Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent”

My sister, Laura, is getting ready to have her first baby, and I am so excited. Laura and I grew up together very closely, since we are two years apart. Though we look nothing alike, we have nearly identical mannerisms and ways of speaking. I love her so much and can’t wait to meet her little baby boy!

For the shower, I was responsible for some of the dessert-like food. I decided to do a variety of mini muffins. I also did some mini peanut butter brownie cups. I realized that the “mini” theme was suitable since babies are “mini”, but it wasn’t my original intention. I also made peppermint chocolate biscotti with a dark chocolate drizzle that was fabulous.

The mini muffins were…

Lemon Poppyseed, Cranberry Walnut, and Blueberry

The lemon poppyseed recipe I found here and I modified it by adding poppyseeds, which this recipe omitted. I added about 1.5 tablespoons. I definitely recommend making the glaze for these, it makes them extra delicious.

The cranberry walnut recipe was made using dried cranberries and a recipe I found for basic muffins – I’m not exactly sure where I found it, but a simple google search should bring it up. Also, since I only had dried cranberries and not fresh ones, I learned a new trick for plumping up dried cranberries – let them soak in hot water for about 20 minutes. It really works!

Finally, the blueberry muffins (which turned out great) were made using a simple box mix – thanks, Pilsbury! Hey, I had to take a shortcut for at least one of these.

The other mini treats were the Brownie Candy Cups which I found on Bakerella’s blog. These are technically not supposed to be all that mini, but since I didn’t have the right sized cupcake papers, I used mini muffin pans to make them. This works just as well, since the peanut butter cup fits perfectly inside.

I found the recipe for the chocolate peppermint biscotti on Google somewhere, but I can’t remember where…so, unfortunately, you’re out of luck for that one, too. I pretty much used a basic chocolate biscotti recipe, and added peppermint chocolate chips. For the glaze, I used dark chocolate chips and a tablespoon of shortening, which I melted in the microwave until smooth, then drizzled over top the biscotti with a fork.

Overall, the shower turned out great, and my sister was happy with all the great gifts she received. Just a few more weeks, and little Wesley will be here!