March 2010

Mochi Mochi! Apple Caramel Mochi

March 29, 2010

Years ago my friend Emmie (who does this awesome line of cards, and I’m not just saying that because I apparently inspired her “meat birthday card” but because her cards are truly awesome) made a dessert for a get together of ours.

This was especially impressive as she claims to have no real talent for cooking, and in fact would often call me up and tell me about how she would make herself dinner and then look at it, puzzled at that fact that the food she made was totally unappetizing. She claimed this happened on a regular basis.

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Top of the Muffin to You! Cornmeal blueberry streusel topped muffins with lemon glaze

March 24, 2010

There’s a classic Seinfeld episode where Elaine only eats the top of the muffins and her former boss decides to start a business called Top of the Muffin to You! where he only sells the muffins tops. The problem was that he only baked the muffin tops with these special muffin top tins and no [...]

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Comfort Food = Chicken Pot Pie.

March 22, 2010

Sometimes, just sometimes (and definitely not all the time) I feel the need to cook.

Not Bake. Cook. Sustenance. Comfort. Food.

It’s the soothing prep of chopping and putting everything out in bowls – the “mise en place” (as all the professional chefs call it, and what anyone who’s ever read a book by Anthony Bourdain will know as the “meez”). It’s the need to slice, chop and mince everything and prepare all the ingredients and to have the satisfaction that I made the food. Not someone else. Me. Just me. Nothing processed. No preservatives. Just food. Real food.

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I’m FAT! Vegan Banana Bread – which is what you bake when someone is complaining about their weight

March 19, 2010

This was what I kept on hearing from my partner as I started this blog about baking. Which, of course, probably wasn’t the best thing for me to hear as I decided that I wanted to bake more. A lot more. Forget that he exercises way more than I do (which, granted is probably not difficult as I go to the gym three times a year, but still – he’s usually on his bike at least once or twice a week and at the gym a couple times a week).

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Today is Pi(e) Day. I did not bake a pie, I baked chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

March 15, 2010

I had every plan to bake a pie today, on Pi(e) Day – March 14. 3-14 (get it? Pi! 3.14!) I was planning on baking a lemon meringue pie, as the lemon tree outside was bursting with fruit and since AJ and I are the only people in our apartment building that actually harvest the fruit, the lemons just sit on the tree until they rot which is just sad. I’ve thought many a times that I should gather up the lot of lemons and walk over to Bi-Rite Grocery and see if they would buy them from me, but that seems like way too much work. But, of course, that means I have access to fresh, free, completely organic lemons (SUPER LOCAL as well!). Go me! Mostly this just means I cut up the lemons and put them in hot water like the Old Chinese grandma that I am turning into.

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Some counter-intuitive advice, or why I started this blog

March 15, 2010

I was exhausted a few weeks ago by the sheer amount of work that I had to do at my job. I was staying late, getting up early, and even waking up in the middle of the night in a state of stress thinking about what needed to be done, and how in the world was I going to get it done!?!?

Though I normally like my job (you know as much as most people like their job), in the past six months it had devolved into a boring menial task position, one that had me doing repetitive production work instead of actual design (I’m a sr. designer at a small branding agency). The problem was (and still is) that I am good at my job. Too good. I’m the one that people turn to to get the project done in time. I can work faster and more efficient than most people, and thus I often times get stuck doing the mundane tasks (make this powerpoint! do these five changes the client asks for! we have a meeting in 5 minutes and I need you to print and bind these four books!) because I can crank it out in time for the deadline. Usually.

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