epic fail friday

two month old crabapple

i bought three of these in santa monica on January 20th.  

i only ate two so this one came home with me. 

 it's a souvenir of sorts, and i couldn't bring myself to throw it away

 so there it sits.

 on my dresser.

softening each day, but never rotting or molding.

i ponder the longevity of this mystical crabapple.

dare me to eat it?

things that taste good thursday

cough drops.

soothes a sore throat, and offers encouraging messages to boot.

gingerbread cupcakes

hey!  remember christmas?  it was like, 3 months ago.

so here are some gingerbread cupcakes that i made this past christmas.  sorry so late!  no, let's be optimistic.  here's a christmas recipe 9 months early.

you're welcome.

start by peeling and grating some ginger.  you'll need 1/4 cup

put some butter and water in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
microwave until melted, set aside.

next sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon,
nutmeg, allspice, ground cloves, and ground ginger.  set aside.

add some brown sugar and molasses to a bowl and beat until smooth.
CAUTION:  molasses is slow.

side note:  what the heck is up with the molasses container?  i guess the manufacturer thought
it wasn't slow enough so they decided to make the tiniest hole ever to pour it out of.  that's just cruel.

add eggs one at a time, beating 30 seconds between each

slowly beat in flour mixture, just until incorporated

add butter mixture and grated ginger, beat until smooth

the batter will be quite runny

fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake at 350 for 12-14 min

place those beauties on a rack to cool completely before icing

to make icing, combine 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar,
and 4 teaspoons of lemon juice

allow icing to stiffen for 4 min before spooning over cupcakes.

feel free to tease your dog mercilessly before shoving this down your gullet.

gingerbread cupcakes (from simply recipes).

ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup (1 stick unsalted butter)

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar (i used light brown.  this is up to you)

1/2 cup unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)

3 large eggs, room temperature

  lemon icing

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

4 teaspoons lemon juice

method

preheat the oven to 350°F. put butter and water in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and melt in the microwave

in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and dry spices, set aside.

bin a large bowl, beat molasses and brown sugar until smooth. add the eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds between each.

slowly beat flour mixture in, just until incorporated. 

add the butter mixture and the grated ginger, beat until smooth. batter will be runny.

spoon into cupcake papers, about 3/4 full

bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

allow to cool for a minute to set before moving to a wire rack to fully cool.

  lemon icing

combine the sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl and stir until smooth. 

allow to stiffen for about 4 minutes. 

spoon over the cooled cupcakes and allow to harden.

original recipe here

things that taste good thursday

{recipe}

corned beef and cabbage

happy st. patrick's day!

kiss me, i'm irish!

pi pie

π

hey, so you know the number pi (3.14, π)?  well today, 3/14, is pi day! so i made a pi day pie.
nerd alert!
did you know that the area of a circle (or pie!) is found by multiplying the square of the radius by pi?
let's use pi to find the surface area of my pie!


A= π · r²  or  A= π · r· r
i used a 9-in pie plate, so the radius is 4.5 in.
A= 3.14 · 4.5 · 4.5
so the [surface] area of my pie is 63.59 in²!
not sure how that translates to calories, but there is your math lesson for the day.


let's begin making the pi pie, shall we?


no offense, pi pie, but i was too lazy to go to the supermarket; so i used what I had on hand at home.

start by adding 1 sleeve graham crackers to your mom's 1970s food processor

pulse until crumbs are formed, then add sugar and melted butter

pulse until homogeneous

add mixture to a pie plate, and use a smaller pie plate to press it in

once your crust is perfectly molded, bake at 375 for 7-8 min, and let cool

while crust is cooling, add some jello pudding mix to a bowl.
i used banana cream

add some cold milk

whisk for 2 minutes.  the mixture will thicken as you stir

dump some strawberries into your cooled crust

pour your pudding mixture over them

smooth the top with a spatula, and chill at least 1 hour before serving

strawberry banana cream pie.

ingredients

  graham cracker crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx. 1 sleeve unbroken graham crackers)

3/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons melted butter

  pie filling

1 3.4-oz pkg. instant pudding mix (i used banana cream)

1 3/4 cup cold milk

3/4 cup cut up fruit of your choice (this step is optional, and feel free to use more or less fruit)

method

  graham cracker crust

pulse graham crackers in food processor until crumbs are formed.  you need 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.  discard any extra or save in airtight container for later use.

add sugar and butter, pulse until homogeneous

press firmly into 8 or 9 in. pie plate

bake at 375 for 7-8 min, let cool completely before filling.

  pie filling

combine pudding mix and milk, stir with whisk for 2 min

add fruit to cooled pie crust, immediately cover with pudding mixture

chill for at least 1 hour before serving.  store in refrigerator.

happy π day!

{click here to learn more about this magical number}

epic fail friday

gravy boat fail.

my dad's idea of keeping the gravy warm & recycling foil.

dad... i think you missed a spot.

origin.

why, you ask, is it called peanut butter shelly time?

if you've lived under a rock for the past 11 years, you may not understand the reference.

allow me to enlighten you

more history here:

http://peanutbutterjellytime.net/

i was a freshman in college (2002) when i first saw this video, and it's stuck with me ever since.  

that, and i love puns.

lent

oh, hey blog!  long time no see.  i have lots to share but not much time to prepare posts lately.  i'll be back in the saddle soon, promise!

in the meantime, let's talk about lent.  it is fat tuesday after all.  i'm not very religious, but i did grow up catholic, so i still try to give up a thing (or three), and avoid meat on fridays during lent.  but without fail, i always forget the no meat rule the first friday of lent and end up eating sausage for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, steak for dinner, and chocolate covered bacon for dessert.  

oopsies.

anyway.  here's what i plan on giving up for lent.  maybe writing it here will help keep me accountable.

bagels.

everything bagels in particular are my weakness.  

i love getting all the seeds stuck in my teeth so i have a tasty snack for later.

donuts.

i don't eat them often, but when they're around i have serious self control issues.  

have you ever seen a rabid accountant?  it's not pretty.

shopping.  

this one is going to be the most difficult.  those of you who know me in real life know that i kind of have a thing for dresses.  i might have a second closet in my home dedicated to just dresses.  but lets not get into that.  this blog is mostly about food, after all.

so i may or may not have eaten an everything bagel for breakfast and ordered a dress online this morning.

i suppose i should complete the trifecta before it's too late.  

someone get me a donut, stat!