Blue Jeans and Buttercream – Ranting, and Raving
(Tube cake decorated with four different frostings, strawberries, and topped with a strawberry rose piped full of chocolate ganache – more on this later in the post) Why is it, when I consider myself of average build, I have such a hard time finding jeans that fit? I pose that question philosophically, to no one […]
Stuffed Chicken Breast with Pesto Cream Sauce
Simple, elegant, and not too labor intensive – what more could you ask for? Oh, did I mention it’s delicious? It’s delicious. I don’t remember when the idea of stuffed chicken popped into my head, but it was one of those small thoughts that kind of drifts in, and you think it’ll be just a passing […]
Yogurt Spiced Chicken with Spicy Sweet Curry Sauce
Perhaps not the pretties plate of eatin’ you ever laid eyes on, but presentations aside it was darned well tasty! What? I don’t talk like that… *scratches head, confused* Alright, so last night was a rough one – I knew what I wanted to make for dinner well in advance, had bought the ingredients and marinated the chicken… […]
Green Bean Soup – no, not split pea… green bean
Yeah, I had never heard of it either. Apparently, The Sister’s Fiancé grew up with the stuff, and so (not entirely sure how this happened) I decided to make it. I went on a hunt for recipes, and talked with him about what it’s supposed to be like – the hope being to come up with a recipe at […]
Chocolate Meringue Cookies – the best tasting styrofoam ever
I’ve never been a huge fan of meringue cookies. I like them, will eat them, but don’t crave them – I’ve always felt they were a little like sweetened styrofoam. This would be a good place to note that I’m not really all that picky, and will happily eat sweetened styrofoam. So when The Boyfriend […]
Zucchini Bread, and how to slay a giant zucchini monster
(Zucchini bread with Pecans, step-by-step photos and recipe in post) The other day, The Sister told me a neighbor had given her some fresh zucchini, and she didn’t know what to do with it all. She told me it’s the biggest zucchini she’d ever seen – as big as her arm, she said. I didn’t […]
The Spice House, Geneva IL
During the trip to Illinois, it was imperative that we made a stop at The Spice House, in Geneva. Not only was it right on the way, but it’s one of only several branches of Spice Houses started by the Penzey’s in 1957. You may be wondering why it matters that it was, once, in the […]
Chocolate Malt Fudge Cake – birthday cake for the win!
(Chocolate Malt Fudge Cake, recipe in post) After a long absence, she returns to her keyboard, belly full and fingers ready… I’m probably flattering myself here, but for those of you desperately wondering why I haven’t posted for the past several days, it’s because I’ve been in the Chicago area visiting The Family. It’s been […]
Peanut Butter Fudge – a comparison of recipes (the easiest one is the best!)
Peanut Butter Fudge with Chocolate Swirl (recipe included in post) See that? It’s lushous. It’s fudgy. It’s delicious. It took me three tries to get right. Now I have eaten so much peanut butter fudge, I think I have a fudge baby inside me. I need a fudge-bortion. I know I shouldn’t joke about such […]
Totoro’s Japanese Restaurant, Ann Arbor MI
If you live in Ann Arbor, you probably know the place I’m talking about – on State St., just North of the State Theater? Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking when I went there to take a pic of the storefront, so for now you’ll all have to settle for looking at the pixely Google street-view of […]
Corn Fritters, Tortilla Soup and sweet, sweet, sweet corn!
Tortilla Soup (link to recipe in post) Ever since the Calabacitas, I’ve had a surplus of corn in the house. This wasn’t because I didn’t know how much I needed at the time, but because when I went to buy the corn I had two dollars, and when the amount of corn I needed would […]
Jam and Sourdough – Part 2, the Sourdough
When it came to making a sourdough starter, all I heard was how difficult it would be. How nuanced the technique was, and how you need to know what to look for and how to correct it if something’s wrong. While that’s true to a certain extent, with a bit of research and some helpful […]