I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing. It’s one of many things I’m trying to do right now. I have a job, but I’m constantly searching for more work. I’m also eating more nutritional food and less fun food. (Anyone notice what I like to cook? It’s not very healthy. A blog about cake is probably not the best idea when attempting to get in shape.)
There is also a GRE to study for, Spanish to review (my job involves speaking Spanish on a regular basis and it gets embarrassing to mix up verb tenses all the time), Korean to try to learn and programs to look for so I can go teach English in Korea in a year. I also don’t have a ton of money for fancy ingredients. In fact, I’m most commonly seen eating cheese toast and celery with peanut butter. One of my favorite free pastimes is going to the store to look at expensive cheeses.
So while I readjust and try to photograph and write about more of the food I’ve made we’re going to play a game! It’s called “Name This Meal!” Look at the out-of-focus photo of a meal that was served to me in Spain at a not-very-pleasant lunch with my study abroad group. Then guess!
I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing. It’s one of many things I’m trying to do right now. I have a job, but I’m constantly searching for more work. I’m also eating more nutritional food and less fun food. (Anyone notice what I like to cook? It’s not very healthy. A blog about cake is probably not the best idea when attempting to get in shape.)
There is also a GRE to study for, Spanish to review (my job involves speaking Spanish on a regular basis and it gets embarrassing to mix up verb tenses all the time), Korean to try to learn and programs to look for so I can go teach English in Korea in a year. I also don’t have a ton of money for fancy ingredients. In fact, I’m most commonly seen eating cheese toast and celery with peanut butter. One of my favorite free pastimes is going to the store to look at expensive cheeses.
So while I readjust and try to photograph and write about more of the food I’ve made we’re going to play a game! It’s called “Name This Meal!” Look at the out-of-focus photo of a meal that was served to me in Spain at a not-very-pleasant lunch with my study abroad group. Then guess!
It’s amazing how much inspiration the phrase “extra credit” held in my youth. (At the seasoned age of 23 I apparently no longer consider myself a youth.) I was willing to do just about anything — so long as I received a few points to pad out my grades in return. Let’s just say that I finished a French class with a grade of closer to 115 percent than 100 percent and that I once went to a Catholic church on a Saturday afternoon and somehow became mixed up in the line for Confession until I finally explained my purpose: “Umm…I’m just here to, uh, look at the architecture. For school. Extra credit. So, uh, bye!”
The most memorable experience, however, was a cooking video I made in the 6th grade. Imagine three giggly 12-year-old girls setting out on a project about the food of Thailand armed with one video camera (operated by my older sister) and a burning desire for more extra credit. That all sounds great. Unfortunately, our recipes came entirely from an ancient library book that still referred to Thailand as Siam. Apparently all Thai people like nothing better than a glass of limeade to provide respite from the sweltering heat of their tropical nation. Also, the most authentic Thai dessert is a doughnut akin to a county fair funnel cake. I don’t know how true that is, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the book was published in a time when the people of Siam were spoken of in the same patronizing tone that one might have referred to Hottentots or Pygmies and that this food was considered a novelty enjoyed only by heathens in their natural environment.
Instead of posting all about resolutions or my Top 10 Meals…OF THE DECADE, I’m ending the year with a picture of my Bûche de Noël. The cake is long gone and the picture is a week late, but, hey, it’s never too early to start planning for next year.
My new year will bring a new home, lots of cooking in my brand new Le Creuset pot (dijon), and — with luck — more work than I’ve had in the past couple months.
Happy New Year!
The first thing you need if you’re going to undertake French macarons is lots of enthusiasm.
I find that nothing makes me more enthusiastic about baking than a nice Mrs. Claus apron and a Le Creuset full of delicious simmering caramel sauce.
The second thing you need when undertaking French macarons is a friend who happens to love them.
It also helps if it’s that particular friend’s birthday and your gift happened to be a book about macarons, ingredients and supplies to make them and a free afternoon in which to do so.
The first thing you need if you’re going to undertake French macarons is lots of enthusiasm.
I find that nothing makes me more enthusiastic about baking than a nice Mrs. Claus apron and a Le Creuset full of delicious simmering caramel sauce.
The second thing you need when undertaking French macarons is a friend who happens to love them.
It also helps if it’s that particular friend’s birthday and your gift happened to be a book about macarons, ingredients and supplies to make them and a free afternoon in which to do so.
I went rabid over Christmas as a kid. We used to pull all the decorations out Thanksgiving weekend and force my parents into the spirit. Now I’m fully grown at 23 (and 1/2, as I sadly realized last month) and currently living with my parents; I definitely do not have the same desire to festoon the house and blare tacky holiday music. On a related note: Sarah — if you’re reading — please please please listen to this. Four years as a chocolate store employee in a mall may have contributed to my change in holiday spirits.
Here I am in 2008 making the required sugar cookies.
My family celebrates the holidays high on tradition — despite my opinions about public displays of Christmas spirit. Most of these revolve around food, such as the aebleskiver every year at tree decorating time. (How many Americans of no known Scandinavian ancestry can claim that?) We also have a long list of cookies with names like Frosty Fruit Bars and Pecan Tassies and Toffee Cookies that must be made. I have no objection to this, and usually decree the must be made-ness of any such variety of cookie.
I figure after neglecting this site for nearly a month I should make my big comeback by confessing my deepest, darkest secret. This is something I’ve tried over and over to play down or explain away. I’ve tried to quit cold turkey, but I always go back for more.
My take on a very appealing apple cake recipe.
About 20 minutes after this recipe showed up on The Traveler’s Lunchbox I received an email from my mom asking me if I’d seen the apple cake recipe yet. Plans were immediately made — my dad’s birthday was coming up and, as it turned out, both my parents and my aunt and uncle would be passing through Portland in the afternoon of the birthday. My mom orchestrated a gathering in my apartment involving everyone and an apple cake that I was to provide.
I was more than willing to bake a cake. Usually I make extravagant dishes for no special occasion and ultimately feel guilty that I really did eat crème brûlée for breakfast. A birthday is a socially acceptable, guilt-free time to make a cake. Also, my dad always appreciates a good cake.
My take on a very appealing apple cake recipe.
About 20 minutes after this recipe showed up on The Traveler’s Lunchbox I received an email from my mom asking me if I’d seen the apple cake recipe yet. Plans were immediately made — my dad’s birthday was coming up and, as it turned out, both my parents and my aunt and uncle would be passing through Portland in the afternoon of the birthday. My mom orchestrated a gathering in my apartment involving everyone and an apple cake that I was to provide.
I was more than willing to bake a cake. Usually I make extravagant dishes for no special occasion and ultimately feel guilty that I really did eat crème brûlée for breakfast. A birthday is a socially acceptable, guilt-free time to make a cake. Also, my dad always appreciates a good cake.
