late night food post

as i wait for my double chocolate peppermint chip cake to cool, i thought i'd share some of the food pics i've taken over the last week. check 'em out-


homemade tortilla chips frying. yum.

more delectable food photos after the jump...


mmm. chips is done.


hennepin bubbles. pretty, pretty beer.


nachos and eggs for brunch.


yummy yummy cake batter before white- and bittersweet-chocofying...


yummy yummy baked cake

i'm eating quite well, though happiness hasn't really come to visit in awhile. chocolate cake always helps, though, so after the office party tomorrow i'll be darned if i don't get the spirits up...

i may have a problem

the contents of my "chocolate shelf":


does anyone really need that much chocolate? i guess i do, because i'm cra-azy.

oh, also, i forgot that i took a picture of the david leibovitz chocolate chips i made last week, and they look great, so here's an image.

i think i'm making nicole's addictive chocolate chips this week (sans nuts) so i can share with my pals (especially sonj, who hates nuts and whose preferences i always ignore. :)). mmmm. soup and cookies. and a play. that's a sunday for ya.

oooh mr. cupcake, you're so yummy and misshapen!

final messy product. mm mm good!

so i decided, as my sunday afternoon challenge, to do a remix on us vs. food's buttercream quickie.

for my version, i decided to try to make cupcakes and use a minty dark chocolate in the cake. i used the same buttercream recipe (um, SO easy and light and tasty)! the choice of the cupcake "format" was...an interesting one, considering the fact that i don't own a muffin pan. you will see the folly of my decision to "wing it" manifest itself soon enough :). join me on this culinary journey...

i could smell the coffee, mint, and chocolate flavors all at once...

i should have found a freaking muffin pan. but hey, the shapes give the "cupcakes" character, yes?

this is the one freaking cupcake that turned out the right way...

these are some of the ones that didn't...

mmm, vanilla buttercream...

a few notes on the final product:
the cupcakes are moist and super-chocolatey, and the mint flavor really shines through. my friend jackie was delighted with the mintiness, and the buttercream is a nice, not-too-heavy accompaniment. also, the crazy oval shape feels all gourmet and shit, right?

thanks, us vs. food, for the great idea...

sunday afternoon baking challenge

buttercream quickie, thursday night smackdown style.

i had the pleasure of actually trying a piece of this cake this week, and i can say it's one of the most heavenly things i've ever encountered.

you have been notified. alter your sunday afternoon activities accordingly. :)

post-buffitude brunch

mmmm buttermilk biscuits...

i needed to use the remainder of the buttermilk i bought last week for the chocolate cinnamon bread, so i decided to make myself a somewhat fattening brunch today post-gymathon.

YUM. scrambled some eggs too, before consuming the final product:

good eats.

sunday afternoon treat

chocolate cinnamon bread, recipe and photo courtesy of baking bites.


YUM.

i was supposed to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate my successes, but i canceled because of a prior engagement, and now i'm too lazy to attend the prior engagement, so i baked. (ahhhhh, now it all makes sense, right?)

snacks for a sunday afternoon

if you were to happen to stop by my apartment this coming sunday afternoon, you might be able to score a slice of a marble banana bundt cake.


you've been notified. do what you will. :)

peppermint cookies and cream brownies

recipe courtesy of baking bites.


my coworkers have it waaaaaaay too good. :)

the entertainer

1) this is my 101st blog post! yay! i'm glad i'm back to writing, especially because it's about things other than my broken/breaking/confused heart. my heart has figured itself out, and i now have time to entertain.
2) entertaining is a lot of fun. i had friends over last night, and then melissa and i had a few friends over for dinner tonight, and i am such a happy camper! i am truly my parents' daughter in that i love inviting people into my home. i like to bring people into my presence. we osbornes are quite the social butterflies...though i'm more like a social caterpillar. :)

mexican chocolate torte, topped with chocolate ganache

sssh, don't tell heather, it's for her birthday!

cake....


and ganache so shiny you can see my 'fro in it....



equal yummy birthday wishes. :)