orange cream (creamsicle) cupcakes

Today is a good day! Or at least as good as any day can be at 5:40 a.m. You see, this morning I conquered my fear of marshmallows -- or, to be more precise, my fear of using a candy thermometer to make marshmallows...or anything else, for that matter. The idea of waiting for a metal stick to tell me when it's time to take a boiling, lava-hot pot of sugar off the stove made me skittish for years, and it wasn't helped by my one experience burning sugar last year (gas range = no good for making caramel). But today was the day, and so dedicated to the task was I that I got up extra early to set to it.

polentina with bananas & maple syrup

Ever since I picked up Anna Karenina again (almost done!), I've been thinking a lot about books -- the books I read as a child, bestsellers I want to read, and classic novels I haven't made it to yet. It seems other people are on a book kick now as well. The Kitchn has a series of posts called The Hungry Reader, which focus on food and culinary topics in literature, and I recently received an invitation to a baby shower where the mom-to-be wants to start her baby off with a personalized library. To that end, she is asking everyone to bring a children's book for the new baby in lieu of cards. I think this is a great idea. What do people do with all the cards they receive anyway?

dutch baby pancake

I have been wanting to make a Dutch baby for quite some time -- the idea of a breakfast food that puffs up spectacularly in the oven is just too much for me to resist. However, I try to keep caloriffic pancakes out of my regular baking repertoire, so this recipe has been sitting in my file for a while, just waiting for a special occasion for me to make it. And what better occasion than Easter? I'm sure Jesus would have totally been down with the warm, custardy center and cinnamony goodness of a Dutch baby, especially after spending three days in a tomb.

simple marinara sauce

I'm a glass-half-full kind of person. Most days it isn't terribly difficult for me to drum up an anecdote or thoughtful commentary to share. However, even people with the brightest, sunniest dispositions (not that I would necessarily categorize myself as such) have some of those days -- the ones where they feel bitter, jaded, or downright antisocial. Today is one of those days for me, so in keeping with the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" mantra, which was drilled into my head as a child, I'll keep the preface to my recipe today short. Tomorrow is another day -- for another recipe and another mood.

greek-style braised green beans

Hi, Grandma -- how are you?

My grandma reads my blog. Isn't that nice? Not on the Internet, though -- she doesn't want anything to do with newfangled technology. Dad prints out all of my posts and puts them into a binder for her. Grandma has been doing a lot of cooking ever since we began remodeling our kitchen two years ago. However, to my knowledge, she has never made anything from my blog. Sometimes it's because the recipe is complicated or requires ingredients that aren't available in small-town grocery stores. Not this recipe, though, I promise.

guinness cupcakes with bailey's irish cream frosting

I have long been a fan of Irish things. I think it all started with a tube of green lipstick Mom bought me for St. Patrick's Day one year, and a pair of shamrock earrings she would break out just in time for the holiday. When I went to Notre Dame, my fascination with all-things-Irish really took off. Every square inch of my dorm room that wasn't plastered with the Notre Dame logo was instead covered with shamrocks. (My favorite things, of course, were those that had BOTH.) I can't say that my love of shamrocks has diminished much since then. Though I've adopted a more adult decorating scheme, I still delight in many of my Irish-themed items. I proudly sport what might be the world's largest collection of Irish pajamas and socks all year round (because who else even has a collection?) and I smile gleefully at any opportunity to use my shamrock sprinkles.

mojitos

It was a simple addition. Two throw pillows on the couch, a lamp, and a coordinating shade. But suddenly my apartment went from "work in progress" to "grown-up place to live." This was, indeed, exactly what I had been working towards, but instead of delighting in my well-put-together room, I found the change alarming.

Though I have been out of college for a few years now, I never quite stopped living like a college student -- sparse furniture, hand-me-downs, that sort of thing. Since I hardly owned any furnishing of value, when it came time to move to Seattle, I decided I would skip the moving truck entirely and just buy new furniture after I arrived. (Everything else, including my entire kitchen, traveled via UPS.) Since accumulating good furniture is a somewhat pricey course to take -- unless you, like me, watch Craigslist like a vulture -- it has taken me a while to put my apartment together. However, I finally have enough nice pieces in one room to make it look like a grown-up actually lives there -- a somewhat scary realization for someone who spent the last 3 years sleeping on a bent futon. Even if the idea isn't particularly comforting, at least the reality is certainly more comfortable.

georgia peanut soup

On Saturday evening I watched The Pursuit of Happyness. Now I'm the kind of person who can watch a movie, feel inspired to make change in my life, and actually make it, so as I was lying in bed that night, I decided that I wasn't doing enough of the things in life that make me happy. (Given that I live alone and can do whatever I want all the time, it makes one wonder how this is possible.) Sunday, therefore, would be a day of change.

lime-glazed cookies

This morning I've been reflecting on a little get-together I held at my apartment last night. It was a simple concept -- cookies + cocktails + movie -- and so much fun! Why didn't I think of it before? It was easy to string a theme together and the prep work was not unduly burdensome for me, the host. I think perhaps Cookies & Cocktails should be a monthly event. (Yes, I did consider Cupcakes & Cocktails, but the cupcakes don't work quite as well for finger food.)

arroz con pollo (cuban chicken with rice)

I like my car. It's an SUV, really, but I refer to all passenger vehicles as "cars." It braved four South Bend winters and it dutifully performed on countless five-hour trips between Notre Dame and home, so when it was time to move to Seattle, I gladly forked over the money to have it transported to my new locale. (Because I sure as heck was not going to spend a whole week driving it out here.) What I do not like, however, is when my car shuts down in the middle of the busiest street in Bellevue, which is what it thought it might like to do last Friday. [DANA ND2, what are you doing?!?] Now, all things considered, this was a minor problem -- a firm press on the gas pedal turned the sputtering idle back into a pleasant hum -- but now I'm faced with the irritating task of explaining it all to a mechanic in a way that will actually yield a productive result. Thank goodness for technology, right? I can look up the problem online (oil pressure is low) and read all about the possible causes and remedies (worn bearings - replace them). So now when I go to the repair shop on Friday, I can tell the mechanic exactly what I would like him to investigate, rather than make a vague statement like, "Umm...my car shuts off...sometimes...." Isn't that nice? I think so.