pioneer breakfast

so, to celebrate our pioneer heritage and the day off that utahns get, we decided to have a pot-luck breakfast. i made blueberry muffins with a lemon glaze/sugar topping, nicole made super good crepes, chris made yummy potatoes, michelle made delicious eggs, and alish brought juice to round it all out. this is a plate kyle put together to showcase/partake of the goods.


here's to our pioneer ancestors who came to utah and in turn, unwittingly gave us a day of from work so we could eat wonderful carbs.

ginger + chocolate = even better?

so, i didn't have time to make the gingerbread, but with that on the brain i made these delicious little guys. always a hit.


the recipe is posted here. i used chips instead of chunks, cause i'm lazy. and if you bake them longer than 10 minutes, they are not soft enough. which my old roommate, julia and i both learned on different occasions when we first made them. so, 10 minutes, and they are perfect.

ginger + bread = love

ok, so my weekend plans to go away aren't going to work out, so while working on websites for some of my lovely friends, i will try to get back on the baking wagon. i've been wanting to make this for a while.



it's this gingerbread recipe from the tartine bakery in SF. juliann and kathryn gave me this recipe book and i've been dying to make so many recipes from it. that place is heaven. i can't wait to visit home again in two weeks!

if the recipe turns out, i'll post the recipe and give you my results. if not, i never posted this.

j + c

i haven't posted this week because it's been wedding/family week 2007. my brother, justin, and my delightful friend, caroline may got married on 07.07.07 and it's been a whirlwind week. i thought i'd post pictures of the insanely good cake natasha made for the bride and groom. it was chocolate with blueberries in the middle. so incredible. everyone was loving it.

fast food nation

just cause i bake a lot, doesn't mean i don't like sorta ghetto food.

this post is my ode to del taco...


i always get either the bean and cheese burrito with green sauce, or this little number up here. fish tacos. SO GOOD.


oh yeah, and i REALLY love their straws.

cake on a platter

i haven't baked in a while due to my out of townness and subsequent tiredness. so, i will post these pictures of what i intend to put my next cake in to display.




this lovely cake platter was a birthday gift from my good friend, broek. i've been wanting one of these for forever and she didn't even know it! anyway, shout out to my homegirl who blesses me with her great taste in gifts.

quiche your heart out

ok, so here is the quiche i made last week for a potluck in the park.


i altered the recipe to fit with the ingredients i had. i got the main recipe from baking illustrated and here it is:

8 ounces bacon (about 8 slices) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
4 ounces Gruyère cheese , grated (1/2 cup)
1 9- inch partially baked pie shell (warm), baked until light golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Fry bacon in skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towel–lined plate. Meanwhile, whisk all remaining ingredients except cheese in medium bowl.

2. Spread cheese and bacon evenly over bottom of warm pie shell and set shell on oven rack. Pour in custard mixture to 1/2-inch below crust rim. Bake until lightly golden brown and a knife blade inserted about one inch from the edge comes out clean, and center feels set but soft like gelatin, 32 to 35 minutes. Transfer quiche to rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(so, instead of bacon, i browned some red and yellow peppers with red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and some ham. also, i didn't have any cream, so i just used regular 1% milk. and my friend sara who was in town picked up some brie, so i sliced that up and put that on the bottom.)

and i used a pie crust recipe that had butter in it, which i never do for normal pies, but thought it would work perfect for the crust. so, just basically insert your favorite pie crust here...

so, that's the quiche. my first one ever. it's a lot easier than i thought it would be.

let me know if anyone has any other ingredients they like using in a quiche, i'd love to try some other fillers.

knitting factory

these are like two of my favorite worlds colliding. i'm gonna have to try this. now i will have to learn how to make pies and be a "fly girl" at the same time.

big timer

whatup party people, i am going to upstate new york tonight for a photoshoot and won't be back till thursday night. but, i will post about the quiche i made today when i get back.

holler atchour girl...

ck

sunday baking extravaganza: part three

ok, so as part of my sunday bake-fest, i made these:



pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. i found them in a neighborhood cookbook that my sister, kristin, organized. i would have never thought of putting in oats on my own, but they add a very nice texture and density to an otherwise very airy cookie. they are best before you have to store them in tupperware or otherwise, because they lose their amazing crisp but soft on the inside texture. after covering them, they just become soft. anyway, these are my favorite pumpkin cookies of all time.

1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. old fashioned oats
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (i don't have this so i make it up using cloves, ginger and cinnamon - with a touch of nutmeg)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
chocolate chips

beat together butter and sugars til creamy. add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla; beat well. add combined oats, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt; mix well. stir in chocolate chips.

drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet (or i love, love, love my silpats). bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

i rarely follow a recipe exactly and usually add a little secret ingredient of my own to change things up. the recipe says to cook it longer than 10 minutes, but i find that cooking it more can make them too dry. even if they look undercooked, 10 minutes seems about right, once the cookies have cooled.

let me know if you try any of these recipes and how they turn out. i'd love to hear!