“And you’ve totally redeemed yourself,” I said after taking one bite. Before making these banana muffins, I made zucchini/carrot bread. I couldn’t wait to share how something so healthy could taste so divine. Instead it ended up tasting like cardboard with a hint zucchini. Sadly, it even looked like cardboard. I threw away the bread after trying to salvage it by dressing it up as french toast. Nope, nothing can mask the taste of cardboard. Read more
When life gives you leftover ganache, you make truffles. Duh!
Earlier this week, I posted on chocolate ganache cupcakes. The original recipe was intended for a cake. But, last minute I decided to convert them into cupcakes. I’m really good at throwing myself for a loop. So I used a lifeline and phoned a friend, aka my sister. (We’re gonna own a bakery together one day; she just doesn’t know it yet.) After consulting with her, we decided it would be best to fill these suckers. Next thing you know, the cupcakes are filled, and I have a ton of ganache leftover. (In case you were worried, I tweaked the recipe for the cupcakes so that you wouldn’t have this same unfortunate problem.) Read more
If there’s one thing I know about food blogging, it’s that people love chocolate. And If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I love chocolate. Rich, dark chocolate. So dark it’s healthy. At least that’s what I tell myself. But somehow, I have yet to post a chocolate cake. Sometimes things get consumed before I get ahold of a camera. And we all know a post without a picture is no bueno. This, however, is bueno. Muy bueno. Read more
They won me over. They wooed me in. I owe this baking habit of mine to scones. (And I’m hoping to share the habit with you. Have you entered the giveaway yet? Ends Sept. 16.) After making them, you will feel empowered. You’ll begin to transform into Steve Urkel. Pants high, suspenders taut, glasses thick, in a nasally pitch saying—Did I do that? Read more
Scones were my gateway drug into baking, my first love. For better or worse, they enticed me to try harder things. Initially though, they intimidated me. With their endless layers, their perfect imperfections, and their glistening top hat. But after learning the tricks of the trade, I was hooked. And my love for scones progressed into biscuits … tarts … and pies. But I’ll never forget my first love. Scones taught me about the art of baking. They taught me to work with my hands. And they taught me to appreciate the process just as much as the outcome. Read more
Back to school (for the husband). Back to routine. And back to eating healthy. My, has summer done a number on us. Our consistent workout patterns have been, let’s just say, more organic. Our healthy eating patterns have been in hibernation. And our routine in general has been on vacation. Read more
I went on a baking spree this weekend. Baked straight through. And then Monday happened. I forgot to rest. At least the weekend tasted good. It started with pop tarts. Then vegan chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. Topped off with strawberry shortcake. (Don’t worry, we had people over to help consume all these treats.) Blame it on the lack of sleep, I couldn’t decide what to post the latter half of the week—cookies or shortcake. So I used a lifeline and polled the Facebook audience. Cookies and shortcake were neck and neck. But when I started writing this post, strawberry shortcake was winning by 1 vote. I checked an hour later and it was losing. Shoot! Not gonna lie, I may have asked my husband and sister to cast their vote. And I may have told them that I already started the shortcake post. Chicago is rubbing off on me in a bad way. The good news–vegan chocolate chip peanut butter cookies are coming early next week. Pinky promise. Read more
Do you ever have those light bulb moments—the ones that seem too idiotic to share out loud. Yeah, I had one of those this weekend. While making pop tarts. Remember the a-ha moment when you realized that U-Haul just wasn’t a company name? It literally means “you haul it”. And remember the a-ha moment when you realized that Pop Tarts are really just tarts. Tarts?! Yeah, that happened this weekend. And I don’t even care where the word “pop” came from. Popular? That’s not even cool. Read more
