final cake shot

just because glazing a bundt cake makes me feel like a "proper" southern lady. though the stereotype for my demographic might be more of a "mammy" thing. either way, don't get any ideas, reader. i bake because i like to eat.

yes, you wish you were here.

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...

one of these days

from joy the baker. coincidence? i think not...

a cooking challenge- yay!

i've already identified my cooking challenge for next week- brunch! it's sonj's birthday on saturday, and my alcohol-soaked body will most definitely need time- and grease- to recoup. that is where homemade corned beef hash has will come in.


the gym and i need to have a good week.

yum.

sunday lunch. "tuscan inspired tomato and white bean soup." good stuff.

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.

sunday cooking challenge

last week i baked these yummy chocolate chip cookies. they weren't so much of a challenge, since chocolate chips are one of my standbys, hence the lack of a post.

this week, though, i am going to cook! amazing, yes, i know. and i believe i will invite a fellow over to eat what i cook, which is even more exciting. yay for audiences.
the challenge: tuscan inspired tomato and white bean soup
the (somewhat odd) recipe source: theroot.com (yes, that theroot.com, the one for black people. and yes, this is a recipe for italian food. oh, how eclectic we are! ;)).

don't don't don't DON'T

don't you...forget about me... as you walk on by, as you walk away...

largest baci ever...

ah, perugina. i almost forgot about you. but now that i have eaten six of you in the space of as many hours, i pledge never to forget again.

yum.

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?)

things that rock about today

1. today is the day after the second meeting of my ItAG (and the first that everyone attended). we played games from "games for actors and non-actors," introduced ourselves, and started to get a taste of what we all bring to the super-positive, awesomely radical educators' table. i left at 9:15 feeling radiant and expansive, and exhausted. good talk about good books is like crack to me, without the horrible post-hit crash :).
2. my promotion (as lukewarm as i felt/feel about it) was announced at work today. it's good to have it finally out in the open. it's also good to have a great officemate to make sense of it all with.
3. restaurant week dinner at amalia with heather and nicole. FAB! from caldo verde to balsamic-glazed short ribs to warm chocolate cake with vanilla foam and caramel ice cream, fancy dinner was worth every single penny. add the pinot/cabernet/syrah blend to that, and you've got near-perfection. good eats and good conversation-- a great way to end a wonderful 48 hours.

what's up next in this oh-so-blissful week?

• a pan-african literary forum reading at the new school tomorrow featuring our friend c. n. adichie
• maybe first fridays at the bronx museum?
• maybe first saturdays at the brooklyn museum?
• maybe a kinda silly obama-love event at piano's on thursday?

i dunno. but having to decide between this many awesome choices is priceless.

weekends are for goodies

my marble banana bundt cake, ladies and gents. with chocolate chips for extra kick!

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. :)

yummy recipe blogs

a little bit for you, but a lot for me so that i can keep track of all of these great bakers!

http://bakingbites.com/
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/
http://www.cupcakeblog.com/

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. :)