Leave Well-Enough Alone

Go right ahead and call me a hypocrite, it's fine... I am usually the first person to turn my nose up at using a cake mix to make a "homemade" cake but I admit it... one of my go-to recipes has its humble beginnings in a yellow boxed (oh, the horrors) cake mix. I'm not outright proud of this, but one of the best cooks and bakers I know *thanks, mom once told me when you find a great recipe, you don't question it, whether it comes from a box, packet, etc.; sometimes they just aren't meant to be messed around with.

This Junior League of Northern Virginia recipe is as easy as they come and delivers a cake that has been a crowd-pleaser everytime. Plus, if you buy the cookbook, you'll be the proud owner of tons of other great recipes (I stand behind the Antipasto Squares) while having contributed to a great cause.

Black Russian Cake

1 18.25 oz pkg yellow cake mix
1 5.1 oz pkg chocolate pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 c vegetable oil
1/2 c vodka
1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c Kahlua, divided
1/2 c powdered sugar

Beat first 7 ingredients and 1/4 cup Kahlua at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Combine remaining 1/4 cup Kahlua and powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. Let cake cool slightly. Remove cake from pan. Puncture cake surface with a large wooden pick and pour glaze over cake. Let harden.

How I Escape

I don't think you'll find a single (though I am not the authority on this) blog in which a cook or baker doesn't mention that the only downfall to cooking and baking is that you are subsequently left with a large amount of food. And, unless you have extreme will-power, you end up eating more of it than you'd have liked... followed by feeling gross and complaining about over-eating (as if it's someone else's fault!)... and then we vow off baking for a while... which, if you ask me, is just a bad idea in general!

So how to avoid this evil cycle? Bake for others! Though, an important, crucial really, caveat - only bake when you have a REASON to bake for others... if you make an extra 3 batches of cookies because "you're sure you'll be able to find someone to pawn them off on" - nope, never works... you end up stuck back in the "no will-power, eat more than you like and feel gross, etc" rotation.

This past weekend was an exercise in perfection in finding others to eat what I wanted to bake... Saturday night we celebrated one of our friend's birthdays (albeit early) so Peabody's (actually, Bon Appetit's, but Peabody pointed me in the right direction) Brownie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting fit the bill. They were unbelievably easy to pull together and even better tasting - I might even use the brownie recipe on its own!

Two comments from the wannabe-baker: I will be sure and liberally add more whipping cream to the frosting next time, though since I did have to transport these, the thicker frosting (as is apparent from the picture) held up very well; and I would skip the cupcake liners and just grease or use cooking spray on your muffin pan so that you get a nice smooth edge on the brownies instead of the rippled edge of the liner.


And Sunday's family gathering was just the opportunity I needed to finally try a recipe I've been eyeing for a while... Pear Croustade with Lemon Pastry and Almonds. We were really pleasantly surprised (me for how easy it was to make and others for how much we loved eating it!); the recipe from Bon Appetit was pretty much right on, though having read some of the online reviews, I think it would be a great idea to substitute about 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour to give it a bit more rustic look and taste. I also think this could easily be made with apples, and I loved the hint of lemon in the crust, not to mention the smell that fills my kitchen after zesting lemon!

I knew my weekend of baking had been a success when I returned home with no cupcakes and a happy cousin asking to keep the last remaining sliver of pear croustade!

The Best Intentions

For the most part, finding new sources of inspiration are a good thing, right? But what about when they are new baking websites/food blogs that focus on all things delicious and beautiful but really, not the least bit healthy. Sometimes, you just can't help it - we all know it's no fun when there's no chocolate (or peanut butter, for that matter) involved.

Even though I decided that I don't have the baking/cooking skills or the camera (or 100% of the desire, truth be told) to enter the food-only blogging business, that hasn't stopped me from reading and drooling over everyone else's. Foodies and their blogs have really influenced the way that I search for recipes these days; (long) gone are the days of searching through cookbooks (okay, that's not entirely true), and (for me personally) even the days of searching in online recipe databases have given way to primarily using a few, reliable, food blogs, with amazing pictures and recipes. I find these even friendlier and easier to use then reader reviews on sites such as allrecipes.com and epicurious.com.

I have long been a reader and admirer of Confabulation in the Kitchen's; not only do I credit her with inspiring me in just about anything creative, but she (and her blogs) have also lead me to two of my new favorites (Peabody and Food Blogga). And so, last night, my journey began - attempting some of the recipes I've been reading about. I won't waste anyone's time telling you about my (somewhat major) mishap I stumbled upon but suffice it to say, once I pulled these Peanut Butter Blondies with White Chocolate and Pecans (originally by the famed Magnolia Bakery in NYC) out of the oven, I was a believer.

I think my only hope in the coming days and months is that I develop some kind of willpower because the only thing I love more than baking is eating.

What Now?

Well, we are homeowners!!! The closing process was reported to be the fastest and cleanest our real estate agent had witnessed, although truth be told, it'd been less than seamless until today. *might warrant a "Lessons Learned from Buying a House" post one of these days

*better pictures

Lucky Chris got to start moving in after he finished signing the papers - and while I will be sure he's putting his "stuff" in the right places, Annabelle and I won't make the new house our home until after the big day in March.

In the meantime, Chris will be doing everything "homeowner" (let the fun begin), and (when time allows) I will be testing out the new gas stove as much as possible... it's my first! Chris thinks I've been more excited to have gas to cook with than the rest of the cute home... he's not entirely right.

One house on the market, one house purchased... one wedding to go!

30 Minus 1

Chris turned almost 30 yesterday - and in honor of the big day, we celebrated with ice cream cupcakes!

*Being the non-coffee enthusiast that Chris is... our version had vanilla bean ice cream instead of coffee and crushed up chocolate-covered toffee candies instead of chocolate-covered coffee beans.

It didn't deter us from chowing down, but these little guys were somewhat tough to dig in to... if anyone figures out how to eat them "nicely" pass along the secret! In the meantime...

Happy 29th, Chris!!

To the Happy Couple!

It was back to Atlanta yet again this weekend... this time to celebrate the happy wedding of Jay Tienken and Mariah Doppel; I have known Jay for about as long as I can remember so it was a very exciting time getting to see him and his beautiful bride walk down the aisle.

All of our old family friends were in attendance so it also served as second weekend in a row of reunions. It's official: I don't necessarily miss living in Atlanta, per se, but I do often find myself missing "home" and all that comes along with that - old friends, familiar scenes...









As a sidenote, it was another opportunity to get some more wedding planning done, but for now, I am enjoying not thinking about upcoming decisions that need to be made but prefer, instead, to simply think about the culmination of months of Jay and Mariah's planning as we danced the night away celebrating the new couple!

*I do need some help - while my happiness for the couples is never muted, I have been finding that weddings are a bit ruined for me now that we're engaged; I notice every single detail and wonder who their vendor was for x, y, and z... how do I return to the normalcy of enjoying them as they are?

All the Rage

I'm the last person in the world who thinks of herself as a real business (or otherwise) traveller but I just came across this fun article talking about where to get more than your usual fast-food in our airports; and, since I have been on the go the past 2 weekends (with another to come), it struck a chord. The thing is, I'm not one to arrive extra early at an airport just so I can sit down for a relaxed albeit tasty meal (tempting as the juicy steak at the top of the article is) - who are the people who have enough time to (let alone wanting to) do that?!

And while I'm on a roll discussing things that I'm not an expert in and truthfully, rarely take part in (but that I like reading and dreaming about), Washington Post food critic, Tom Sietsema, just released his 2007 Washington DC Dining Guide. It's my annual tradition to pull this out of the paper and save it for the twice-a-year DC Restaurant Week when it, for one quick week, becomes relevant for me.

Are You a Spartan?

We found ourselves back in Atlanta this past weekend - this time, the main event was my 10-year high school reunion (admittedly, packed in with some wedding planning... invitations and photographer, check!). I don't know if you all have been to your high school reunions but I must say that I approached it with some reservations - would enough people come, would it be fun regardless, who would talk to whom, would "he"/"she" show up, etc.

Saturday evening, though, I was VERY pleasantly surprised... before I go on, though, I must give major kudos to Anne Marie and Brad who put the whole show together - good thing our class President (Brad) married such a great party planner.









It was a wonderful evening spent celebrating the North Springs High School class of 1997. I must say that everyone has grown up wonderfully and it was a great time catching up with folks - most of whom have stayed in the Atlanta area. Even though I would guess that I was one of maybe 5 who returned from out of town for the reunion, it was worth the trip (it warrants saying here that most of the kids who went to my high school went on to UGA and then moved straight back to Atlanta).

Also in attendance was our class celebrity - Verron Haynes, running back formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, made an appearance to our delight... sadly he left the Super Bowl ring at home.

Now that we have weathered both my 5-year college reunion and my 10-year high school reunion, I just may be sold on reunions... they were both a blast! Don't miss yours'!!