The Mess Maker Baker

I Know I Haven't Posted in Months & Months...

2009-09-24T14:16:00.002-05:00

I spent the summer working 3 jobs and one internship to prepare for my semester in Paris, where I currently am. I had no time to do what I love best, baking. In Paris I live in a dorm so I have no kitchen to cook. Everyone has promised to find me a kitchen to make them pies & hopefully a whole Thanksgiving meal with that comes around! It will be fun to adapt to what's offered here. If I end up making those things, I'll definitely post here. Until then, you can keep up with my travels by adding this blog:

Vonnie's Travels

Au revoir!

My Birthday: The Celebration in Food & Drink

2009-07-13T23:54:00.003-05:00

My birthday this year (7/11) was marked by absolutely delicious food. I ate supremely well all week & weekend, with more birthday lunches & dinners lined up for this coming week!

First up was sushi with my friend Michael at Mt. Fuji the Sunday before my birthday. They have amazing happy hour specials but the atmosphere is definitely not my style, with Daughtry playing in the background & all. Their Spicy Girl roll was great!

Tuesday I ate sushi again with my friends Hunter & Kevin at Obento-Ya just off the U of M campus. It was good but their happy hour specials were not so special. Next time I will go for a bento box; they seemed to be the most popular thing there.

Friday I went to Barbette in Uptown with Aaron. Bless his soul, everything on the menu scared him. He ended up getting the pork loin with apple ginger sauce & really liked it. I got the seared salmon with orzo pasta salad with dill pesto and it was unbelievable. More to come on that on Heavy Table this week (along with a picture!). We split the small order of pommes frites as an appetizer, which is probably what got me so full & the reason why Aaron didn't complain too much. I was rolling out of there by the end of my meal! I haven't had fries in ages & the fries at Barbette were good enough to break that fast. We had to stop to rest on the walk back home because I was so full!

Aaron was looking quite dapper! It distressed me how many people were eating out at places like Barbette & Chino Latino with cargo shorts and flip-flops on. Make an effort!

Saturday I woke up early to seize the beautiful day and head down to the Mill City Farmers Market to see what I could see. My first stop was watching Tim McKee work his magic doing trout sliders in celebration of the market's Trout Fest that day. They were just right; the buttery, grilled potato roll, trout with slightly crunchy skin, aioli sauce, and field greens all came together to create the perfect little morsel. Maybe as a bon voyage dinner before I go to Paris, I'll stop there with my most financially stable and seafood-loving friends.

Next up was some delicious chocolate courtesy of French Nugget. I love these things! They don't melt and have just the right amount of sweetness. They taste healthier than regular chocolate too. I don't care if they actually are! I got Almond Heaven and Oatmeal Dream; both lived up to their names.

After that I got a strawberry shortcake from what I think was Solomon's Snacks & Bakery. I didn't end up eating it till I got home, but it wasn't the best or the worst shortcake I've ever had. There definitely needs to be work done on the strawberry-to-cake ratio. Too much cake!

I was still craving some sweets so I made the obligatory stop at Chef Shack to try their beet ice cream. Boy, was it good! Just the right hint of sweetness & beet flavor. Keep in mind that this is coming from a vehement hater of beets, even. I can't wait to try their carrot & corn flavors when those veggies are in season. I was so tempted to buy a bison burger or cow tongue taco or Indian spiced donuts or vegan brat or... okay, everything they had listed for sale. I'm a sucker for good food! I'll be back.

With my final dollars, I bought some fresh raspberries, a mix of red & black. They were perfectly ripe and filled my mouth with that pleasant zing that comes with well-grown berries.

After an intense work out in the afternoon, I was ready for my birthday dinner with my parents at Good Earth in Edina. I had the hardest time deciding what to get, since absolutely everything on the menu looked amazing. I ended up going with the shrimp club, which hit the spot just right. Spicy from the shrimp, refreshing from the tomato, crunchy from the toasted sourdough, creamy from the avocado; a good balance of flavors. My little field green salad was a good accompaniment. I hope to make it back there many, many, many times. Soon.

After dinner, we wanted to wait to indulge in dessert until my brother got home from Colorado with my grandparents. In the downtime, my mom and I decided to go out and pick all the black raspberries that were along the bike path in my neighborhood. We actually found a ton, with plenty more on their way to becoming ripe. I doubt we'll do anything with them; I'll gobble them all down with my breakfasts before my mom decides.

When I had to choose what to have my mom make for my birthday "cake", I had the hardest time figuring out what I wanted. I finally settled on another pear pie with Gruyere right in the crust. My mom found an amazing recipe and made a bomb pie, although it was a little undercooked. I blame our oven; we've been having a lot of failures lately, leading me to believe that our oven temp isn't up to snuff anymore. Even so, the pie was exactly what I wanted!

After pie I was off to my birthday party at my friend's apartment in Dinkytown. I had lime curd from making a previous confection (post to come) and wanted to use it up to make a dessert for all my friends. I settled on lime curd cookies. They weren't the best-looking - the dough was much too stiff and never spread out in the oven - because of a funky recipe, but they sure did taste good. I brought over two dozen and they were gone in half an hour. Everyone was chiding me for baking on my own birthday, but why not do something I love on a day that's all about me?

I also indulged myself with a bottle of chardonnay (among other drinks) at my party. I would have gotten absinthe but apparently it only comes in large, expensive bottles at MGM.

The next day, I woke up, took a nap, and headed out to sushi at Osaka in Eden Prairie with some high school friends. It was happy hour & they had great specials. My friend was paying, so we indulged in some veggie tempura. I also had a spider roll & Alaska roll. I am forevermore sitting at the sushi bar wherever I go, because the chef gave us this at the end of our meal, without even knowing it was to celebrate my birthday:

Despite the treat, we still headed to Scoops in Bloomington for dessert. They've got Sebastian Joe's ice cream, so I decided to get the raspberry truffle. I don't think I'll be getting it again. It wasn't the right combination of raspberry and chocolate that something like raspberry chocolate chip is. Next time I'm headed straight for Pavarotti.

Tomorrow I'm hitting up Loring Pasta Bar, with promises for more sushi later in the week. Next weekend (not this coming) I'm headed to Chicago, where cupcakes and gourmet grilled cheese await. Life is good!

The Teeny Tour: What I Ate

2009-05-30T23:09:00.002-05:00

While on tour with Represent! through Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado for a little over a week, I got to eat all kinds of new things. I, of course, documented everything I tried! There are so many things I want to have in Minneapolis: Waffle House, Sonic (although one did just open in Bloomington while I was away), Goodtimes, & Wahoo's. Keep in mind that I was being paid $5 a day for food so I was looking for the cheapest stuff possible.

First stop: Sonic, Cedar Rapids, IA

Strawberry Cream Pie Shake

Grilled Chicken Sandwich (I ordered a wrap but this looked appetizing enough)

Jared's dollar sausage breakfast burrito

2nd Stop: Taco Bell, Des Moines, IA

Vegetarian 7-Layer Burrito

3rd Stop: Lisa & Kristy's apartment (my home for 3 days)

Veggie Sandwich made especially for my by Kristy

4th Stop: Taste of India, some mall in Omaha, NE

Some chicken dish + basmati rice + some naan made fresh right in front of me

5th Stop: Sonic, Omaha, NE

Blue coconut slush + grilled chicken wrap (no ranch!)

6th Stop: Microtel Inn's Continental Breakfast, Lincoln, NE

Cheerio from a bowl I snagged, plus 2 donuts and cranberry juice

7th Stop: Smashburger, Denver, CO

Create-Your-Own Burger of cheddar cheese, classic bun, smash sauce, leaf lettuce, red onion, & tomato, plus veggie frites

8th Stop: Goodtimes, Colorado Springs, CO

Teriyaki chicken sandwich with pineapple, mozzarella, and lettuce, plus a raspberry/strawberry custard Spoonbender. COME TO MINNEAPOLIS!!

9th Stop: The Loft (venue), Colorado Springs, CO

Homemade chocolate cake, plus spaghetti with sauce & bread, provided by the venue.

10th Stop: Wahoo's Fish Tacos, Colorado Springs, CO/Baskin Robbins

Chargrilled fish taco with black beans & ahi rice. Another place that needs to find a home in Minneapolis.

Nutty coconut ice cream on a sugar cone. And 5 minutes later...

88 cent soft serve on a cake cone.

11th Stop: Waffle House, Colorado Springs, CO (I was here for 3 days, by the way)

Chocolate chip waffle, 2 eggs fried, biscuit & jam, & hashbrowns. I miss Waffle House from the South.

12th Stop: Taco Bell, York, NE (on the way home)

89 cent grilled chicken burrito... a great value for the money! Gotta love it after almost 24 hours without eating anything but a few apples.

I didn't eat TOO poorly, but I do wish I had gotten more fresh fruits & veggies in. It's hard to do when you've only got so much to spend!

Mandarin Chicken Stirfry

2009-05-22T15:29:00.003-05:00

I saw this super-simple recipe for Mandarin chicken on Crepes of Wrath and couldn't resist making it, especially having all the ingredients on hand that I needed to get rid of before moving out. I didn't have rice, but added the rest of my Trader Joe's Harvest Hodgepodge frozen vegetable blend to the mix. I scaled the recipe down to only feed one - myself! It took next to no time to prepare and came out great. I was licking the plate when I finished! I highly recommend this recipe, plus everything Crepes of Wrath blogs about!

Birchwood Cafe

2009-05-22T15:17:00.002-05:00

My mom and I went to Birchwood Cafe in the Seward neighborhood for dinner the night before I was leaving my apartment in the area. I knew I wouldn't get another chance to eat there anytime soon so jumped at the chance to choose whatever restaurant I wanted. We got there on a Friday night and it was packed with families, singles, and couples. Everyone seemed like a regular. It could have something to do with its location in the middle of a residential area with no other businesses around.

We ordered and I got to pick out a dessert to eat while waiting for our food. I went with this luscious pineapple caramel bread pudding. I had never had bread pudding and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do so. This was out of this world. They put a little homemade whipped cream on topped that perfectly complemented the dish. I'm drooling just thinking about this again. It was gone much too soon; I wish I hadn't had to share it!

I ordered the black bean quinoa burger with rhubarb ginger compote, provolone, tarragon orange aioli, lettuce, & onion on a multigrain bun, aka there was no way this could taste bad. It also came with blue corn chips & a small amount of salsa. The burger was absolutely delicious and filling; I couldn't have ordered anything better.

My mom got the Wild Acres turkey burger with Surly Bender mustard, tart cherry ketchup, white cheddar, onion, lettuce, & tomato on a buttermilk bun. The chips also came with her meal. I had a bite and really liked it; she thought it was just a little too spicy.

Either way, you can't go wrong with Birchwood's burgers or desserts (everything in that display case looked killer). I can imagine all their food is amazing, leading to their immense neighborhood popularity. The people in Seward are pretty bike-friendly, co-op-shopping folks, so it fits right in. I hope to be able to go back again before I leave for Paris!

Browniesss

2009-05-22T15:14:00.002-05:00

As mentioned in my blondie post, I made these for a dinner party. The one mistake I made with these brownies was flouring the cupcake tin - it made it really hard to get them all out in one piece. I made them again a couple of days later and just greased the cups and they came out beautifully. These were perfect, fudgy brownies. By making them individual size, each one had a fudgy middle and crispier outside, without anyone having to eat a harder corner piece that is usually a part of making a pan of brownies. I made them for a bunch of boys so they were gone in seconds. The powdered sugar dusted on top was the perfect addition.

Major Baking Fail: Blondies

2009-05-22T15:10:00.002-05:00

I tried to make some brownies (post coming next) and blondies for a friend's dinner party since it would be with a bunch of people I didn't know; I always bring food to make a good impression. I wanted to make them easy to share so I made them in cupcake tins; I also didn't have any square brownie pans to make them in. I found a decent recipe for blondies & decided to add butterscotch chips for an extra zip. I remember adding the baking powder & baking soda and thinking it was way too much for the recipe, but I didn't do anything about it. I noticed them rising way too much in the oven and panicked, but there was nothing I could do at that point. They came out of the oven and immediately fell into little hard rocks of failure. I will have to find a better recipe and try again. Never give up!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

2009-05-22T14:39:00.002-05:00

(This is a very belated post; I just finished with school/finals, moved home, and am now on tour for a week-ish with my friend's band. Selected pictures here)

My grandparents have a rhubarb plant (technically my aunt & uncle's) and gave my mom about a pound to use as she pleased. They were pretty weakling stalks, not quite pink enough for my liking, but I couldn't resist making a strawberry rhubarb pie, especially with strawberries on sale at Rainbow the other week.

I found a recipe that showed promise (I forget where now) and set about making the pie with my mom.

The filling was kind of soupy so we ended up scooping some out so it didn't bubble over. It seemed to bake fine, with juices dripping out towards the end. We figured it was done, so took it out. Now, I didn't get a chance to try it (I scooted off to a concert at the last minute), but my mom said the pie was almost inedible, it was so soupy. We should have found a recipe that cooked down the filling first, then added it. Unfortunately the rhubarb plant won't produce enough for me to take any more home this summer, so I might have to hit up a neighbor or the co-op to try this again and hopefully find success.

A No-Brainer

2009-05-08T19:47:00.002-05:00

Combining bananas with chocolate or peanut butter is always a surefire success. But what about all three? Success squared! I found a recipe for marble banana chocolate bars on AllRecipes.com but didn't want the hassle of cleaning a glass dish or cutting things up. I decided to add in some chopped up chocolate chips and make cupcakes out of them. Marbling batter inside of a cupcake liner isn't an easy feat, either. At least they turned out quite beautiful!

I topped these off with some peanut butter buttercream from Martha Stewart. It's really hard to use the right amount of peanut butter frosting so it doesn't overpower the rest of the cupcake. I put on just a small dab and the flavors blended beautifully. Since I'm leaving my apartment in a week and don't want to grocery shop, these have made really great breakfasts. They've got bananas in them so they're healthy, right?

How I Plan To Take Over The World

2009-05-08T18:54:00.004-05:00

Cup-pies! They're mini pies, in this case apple, made in cupcake tins. What a way to revolutionize the ever-expanding cupcake market. Of course, the idea was introduced in an episode of Pushing Daisies - adding Chuck's new idea of cup-pies to the Pie Hole's menu was a source of debate between Ned & Chuck. Other bloggers have already tried it - Eggs on Sunday and Blondie & Brownie jumped on this idea long before I even started watching the show.

This was a really fun experience for me. I had made an apple pie with a friend the day before and had a ton of leftover sliced apples. I didn't want them to go to waste, but didn't have enough to make another whole pie. The idea of cup-pies must have stuck in my head, and thankfully they were just the right solution. I chopped up the apples and prepared the filling, and then set out to conquer the hardest part - the crusts.

I am a pro at making pie crust from scratch at this point, but this was still really difficult for me. I didn't want to overwork the dough by having to keep rolling it out to make more circles so perfection wasn't my goal for this batch. I cut out circles of dough and made them even thinner to fit into the cupcake cups. By far the hardest part was attaching the top crust to the bottom. I didn't let the bottom crust hang out of the cups far enough to really attach the two layers, so I just tucked in the top crust, hoping for the best. I did not get the best.

As these pups were cooking, apple juices were coming out of the pies and dripping onto the bottom of my oven.

Then when I was trying to remove the pies from the tins after cooling, the tops were coming off the rest of the pie. One even crumbled, which led to me taking pity on it and eating it while still in the pan.

Overall, I didn't add enough sugar to the filling so the pies were a bit on the bland side, something I'll keep in mind for next time. I can't wait to try other flavors!

Breakfast

2009-04-28T20:41:00.002-05:00

Breakfast is seriously the best meal of the day, hands down. I could eat breakfast for every meal, really. Eggs, bacon, fruit, pancakes, french toast, waffles, etc, etc.

Since I love it, I've been trying to put more effort into it - at least more than the banana-on-the-go when I'm running late to my pointless 9AM class. Eggs are definitely my favorite, so I've been focusing on preparing them in the mornings.

Egg & Veggie Wrap - A veggie wrap leftover from the catered international student lunch during my Study Abroad Orientation. I fried two eggs and stuck one in each half of the wrap, as well as some dijon mustard. The perfect thing to eat after a late night. It was flavorful & filling.

Egg & Veggie Scramble - 3 eggs scrambled with Trader Joe's "Harvest Hodgepodge" frozen vegetable blend. All the right veggies for an omelette/scramble. Once again, flavorful & filling.

Sunday Night Supper Club 5/19

2009-04-22T22:46:00.004-05:00

We waited a very long time to have another supper club - scheduling, breaks, and being generally busy. We finally got around to having sushi night! We stuck with veggie maki (we had some imitation crab meat at the end) and had a great time making it. We made regular maki and then attempted to make ice-cream-cone-like hand rolls using these short sheets I picked up, but they ended up more like burritos - really messy burritos. "Fusion Cuisine", right? We also played Apples to Apples and I was laughing until I was crying. Overall, it was an amazing night.

fillings

We had extra avocados from the filling so we whipped up a quick guacamole that was honestly the best I've ever had. Avocados, salsa, garlic powder, lime juice, voila! It was gone in less time than it took to make!

I made jam thumbprint cookies for dessert, mainly because I didn't have many ingredients on hand & I wanted to get rid of most of my jam before I move back home in less than a month(!). I sweetened them up with a simple vanilla glaze & we couldn't get enough of them!

Easter Peeps Cupcakes

2009-04-19T12:46:00.003-05:00

Hey, I know this is late, but I'm a busy student! Last week I went home for Easter and made these adorable cupcakes with the help of my mom and little brother. They're carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, topped with a Peep bunny and jelly beans. Adorable + delicious! I did have a lot of trouble with getting the frosting stiff enough. I wasn't really paying attention and used a recipe for cream cheese frosting that was pretty goopy & not good at all for piping grass-like frosting. I ended up adding tons of powdered sugar to help it stay up (no time to run to the store and get meringue powder) but the frosting thankfully never got too sweet.

An army of peeps!

Chocolate mousse peeps are the bomb.

I obviously ended up with a lot of extra cupcakes (24 for 6 people???) and came up with a cute little way to bag them up and hand them out. I cut off the tops of brown paper bags, which fit 2 cupcakes snugly inside, stapled them & added a little sticker. It could be a cool way to sell them in small quantities over the summer. Maybe I'll come up with a little stamp I can use to mark the bags as a product of mine!

Peeps snugly in their carriers.

We had a huge Easter feast for just 6 people: turkey, stuffing, twice-baked potatoes, asparagus, green beans, French bread, jello, THREE PIES (pecan, key lime, & vanilla creme), and my cupcakes. Oy.

My mom's delicious pecan pie - heavy on the pecans!

My desserts of choice: cupcake + key lime pie

Of course we can't forget my Easter basket & egg dyeing activities! My family is really boring when it comes to dyeing eggs. We all usually just make pretty combinations of colors without any fancy decorating. It's fine with me because they look great all the same.

I got to hand-pick the contents of my basket: gummy bears, Whoppers eggs, Cadbury caramel egg, green Peeps bunnies, and a dark chocolate Toblerone (my mom surprised me with that one). I didn't like the dark Toberlone so I switched my mom for the milk chocolate. My dad got a white chocolate one & I highly recommend trying it!

Personal Blog

2009-04-17T00:43:00.003-05:00

Since I've decided to make this blog exclusively food-related, I've started a tumblr. for my personal thoughts & musings:

Vonnie's Thoughts

Follow me if you like what you see!

Banana Honey Muffins w/Walnuts & Chocolate Chips

2009-04-11T13:55:00.003-05:00

I had some bananas going bad and just enough honey for what my cupcake calendar recipe called for, so I had no choice but to make these muffins/cupcakes. I'm calling them muffins because I've been eating them for breakfast with a little bit of peanut butter swiped on top. I decided to add walnuts & chocolate chips because I wanted the muffins to taste un-plain without having to add frosting; I had no frosting ingredients!

The muffins are moist & flavorful. The chocolate chips add the right amount of sweetness & the walnuts add the right amount of crunch. The peanut butter I put on top really kicks these up a notch, too.

The dino wrappers are the best part of these :)

Turkey Tacos

2009-04-11T13:51:00.002-05:00

When I was home for the weekend, I was put in charge of making dinner for my brother and I while my parents went out to a dinner party. I don't eat beef and he doesn't eat vegetarian things, so we were in a bit of a bind. Luckily, my mom had thawed out some ground turkey and purchased taco-making ingredients at the store just the day before. I had no choice but to make turkey tacos! My little brother even helped out with the prep and we had a great time assembling the meal together. Food really brings people together.

They tasted EXACTLY like regular beef tacos, if not just a little lighter. Completely delicious. They weren't as good as, say, shredded chicken tacos, but I was happy to be able to eat the same thing as the rest of my family for once. Kenny liked them, too! He's always the hardest one to please.

Easter Cookies

2009-04-11T13:36:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I went home and made these delicious sour cream sugar cookies with my mom. It's a secret family recipe & has always been my favorite thing to make since I was little and helping my mom cut out the dough shapes. We used a simple glaze recipe from some Betty Crocker cookbook to ice them.

We used Easter sprinkles & tried to make the frosting spring colors, but the purple turned out grey-ish and my mom added WAY too much yellow food coloring so that one didn't turn out so pastel-y. My little brother Kenny helped out with decorating and did a really great job.

We took them to a family birthday celebration & everyone gobbled them right up. Not hard to do when you've got 6 out of 8 brothers and their wives and children in attendance.

Space Party!

2009-04-01T10:02:00.003-05:00

I had a space-themed party last weekend. Now, I am not really a going-out type, staying in much more than the average college student. However, when I combine all the people I love in costumes in my own home, I can't get enough! I made Oreo "moon" cupcakes with chocolate cake and oreo buttercream frosting. I had time to kill, so I made a bunch of different cupcake toppers.

We also made a space punch (or a sad excuse for one) with UV Blue vodka, Sprite, and raspberry sherbet. It was good enough to have a few too many drinks. We were going to order from Galactic Pizza in Uptown to keep with the theme, but I was too poor and just went with Papa Murphy's to have pizza that was still out of this world! Heh...heh. Overall it was all a hit! Another party is in the works for when I move out of my apartment next month, but I doubt we'll have a theme.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chai Buttercream

2009-03-25T10:30:00.003-05:00

Take a close look at that picture. Is your mouth watering yet? Thought so. This cupcake idea came from a long brainstorming session for the perfect cupcakes to bring to my hairdresser, Jared at Mezzanine Salon in the Seward neighborhood. He's vegan, so that presented a bit of a challenge for me, having never made vegan cupcakes from scratch. I don't know where I got the idea for chai buttercream frosting, but there were a couple of recipes online I could choose from. I ended up just using egg replacer in a standard chocolate cake recipe, probably a bad idea. The cupcakes ended up really sunken & sticky like this:

The buttercream frosting required using extremely strong chai tea, an idea I figured would be cheaper than buying a $10 bottle of cardamom. The flavor was present but light, due to all the powdered sugar that needed to be used to make this less like a soup and more like a thick frosting. It never did get thick, but refrigerating it made the frosting usable.

I made a 13th cupcake simply for the sake of sampling, so I know it at least tasted great. I hope my hairdresser liked them just as much!

Mom's Favorite Scones

2009-03-25T10:24:00.004-05:00

My mom has the absolute best recipe for scones, courtesy of Betty Crocker's International Cookbook. I just realized this recipe is also in my copy of that book from 9 years later; this is a very dangerous realization. They're rich, moist, and impossible to stop eating. The cranberries we added to this batch added just the right amount of bite & sweetness. We made a double batch and they were gone in less than 3 days.

Applesauce & Cinnamon Cupcakes

2009-03-25T10:19:00.003-05:00

My best friend Megan came over during her Spring Break a couple of weeks ago and we couldn't resist the urge to bake. Thankfully, my cupcake-a-day calendar had a healthy recipe for that day! We had all the ingredients on hand to make these simple applesauce cupcakes with raisins in the batter & apple slices on top. The cake was like a nice, moist spice cake and wasn't heavy at all. We probably could have eaten these all night, but I sent the majority of the cupcakes home with Megan! I forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes after they were done, but they honestly looked pretty similar to the above picture of a cupcake before it hit the oven.

Gluten-Free/Vegan Brownie Bites

2009-03-25T10:06:00.003-05:00

For my first day of volunteering at Renewing The Countryside, I decided to ensure my acceptance by offering sweets. The person I had interviewed with for the volunteer position had mentioned she was working on a gluten-free diet (something I struggle with myself) and I figured there was a big chance someone there would be vegan, so I used a BabycakesNYC recipe for gluten-free & vegan brownie bites! It was the perfect recipe because it used the Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour that I already had on hand. These bites were pretty light and airy, more like chocolate cake. Next time I will use a lot less baking soda to get a denser brownie. Nonetheless, it was hard to stop sampling these. They definitely earned me some "brownie points".

Miel Y Leche Cupcake Meetup 3/14

2009-03-25T09:47:00.004-05:00

I understand this blog isn't very timely, but these cupcakes need to be blogged about! I'm part of a Minneapolis Meetup group for the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog and we meet once a month at various places in the Twin Cities that make cupcakes. On the 14th, we hit up Mitrebox downtown at a much-too-early-for-a-Saturday-morning 10am for Miel Y Leche's undeniably fabulous cupcakes. For sale that day were vegan marble cupcakes (not pictured because not purchased), citrus bomb cupcakes with lime curd, lemon cake(?) and an orange buttercream, chocolate chip cookie with a cookie on the bottom and on the top, and the infamous Elvis cupcake with a banana cake, peanut butter marshmallow frosting, and a bit of bacon for garnish.

My favorite cupcake was definitely the citrus bomb. It was light and extra citrus-y. The lime curd filling definitely turned me onto curds... I have been itching to buy some lemon curd at the store and see what I can do with it! The chocolate chip cookie cupcake was dry and difficult to eat. I don't like chocolate chip cookies all that much, especially crispy cookies. The Elvis cupcake was good but a little disappointing due to my high expectations. The cupcake didn't have a strong-enough banana flavor and there wasn't enough bacon on top! Plus, I had made banana cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting just a few days before that were bursting with flavor & easily trumped these.

If I was a lot less lazy on Saturday mornings, I would come get some cupcakes every week. Unfortunately, I am a college student. This means that I both stay up too late on Friday nights and have no money to spend on such things. Maybe I'll try for once a month.

Surprise New Cookbook

2009-03-23T22:27:00.003-05:00

First off, my apologies for the lack of blogs lately. I was rushing through a tough week at school, then relaxing at my parents' home over Spring Break. There's nothing better for procrastinating than blogging, so I'll definitely be catching up.

As a very, very belated Christmas gift, my best friend got me this cookbook, Rebecca Reilly's Gluten-Free Baking! I was jumping for joy because I had actually been giving some serious though to buying it for myself, but I'm glad now that I took it out of my Amazon.com shopping cart! It is considered the bible of gluten-free baking and has gotten nothing but heaps of praise. I haven't tried any of the recipes, but I can't wait to start. Everything looks simply delectable.

New Cookbook #1

2009-03-10T22:50:00.004-05:00

I just got 1000 Vegetarian Recipes From Around The Wrold in the mail and it is a behemoth at over 1,000 pages. Heavier than my Larouuse Gastronomique, even. My friend Renee had it and I got the chance to glace through it for about 5 seconds and instantly fell in love. Each recipe gets a page and color photos of the steps and final product. Also included are nutrition breakdowns for each recipe. That will definitely guilt me out of making a lot of the desserts. Nothing seems too complicated, fortunately for me. I can't wait to start reading it and put little Post-It flags on my favorite recipes (color coded by type of recipe, of course). I read my cookbooks like novels and this one will take a while to get through. Good thing I've got Spring Break coming up next week.

I've got another cookbook arriving in the mail within the next week & I'll blog about it then. I'm also going to order Baking At Home with the Culinary Institute of America sometime soon. So much for new boots.

Tum Rup Thai Review

2009-03-10T22:00:00.003-05:00

A & I went to Tum Rup Thai in Uptown last night (my treat) because he was willing to eat anything and I was craving Thai. We got there and few people were in sight - I will admit that it was 9:30. We were seated immediately, but it took them a while just to get us some water. There must have been a mix-up with the waiters because two different ones greeted us separately. The waitress we ended up with was very awkward and unassertive. I did have to delay her a few times until I decided upon what I was ordering, but it took her a full five minutes to come back after I had made my decision. I also disliked the extremely low lighting - I could barely see the color of my food when it came out!

I went with the Gaeng Kiow Wanh (Sweet Green Curry) with chicken, while A went safe with Pineapple Fried Rice with chicken. We had looked at the menu online before going and I had chosen the restaurant because it seemed less expensive than the surrounding Thai restaurants, but both entrees were listed on the menu at a full $2 over what was listed online. That makes a huge difference on a college student's budget.

The food didn't take too long to come out, but we were some of the only customers there anyway. My curry was really delicious - the melange of vegetables was exactly what I was in the mood for. The pineapple fried rice was pretty good - except that there were only a few chunks of pineapple on top of the dish and none mixed throughout. Amazing Thailand's version completely blows it out of the water; it is my gold standard for the dish in the Twin Cities.

Overall, the service was lousy and the food was overpriced. Granted, it wasn't all that expensive, but I could have gotten bigger portions for less at other places. And turn those lights up!

Forgotten Creation

2009-03-09T19:42:00.004-05:00

What I made my love for Valentine's Day:

Chocolate Chip Heart-Shaped Cookie Pizza

It didn't come out so great and it was hard to make, but he thought it tasted amazing and that's all I cared about :) I ate quite a bit too, of course!

Sunday Night Supper Club 3/8

2009-03-09T16:11:00.003-05:00

Last night was Southern night! We did vegetarian chili, cornbread, and apple pie. It was hard to track down a good veggie chili recipe that didn't use soy crumbles (I don't eat soy), but I found the one we ended up using and it was extremely good & easy to make. The cornbread recipe was AllRecipes.com's top cornbread recipe, and for good reason! I have never had moister, sweeter, more perfect cornbread than the stuff I made last night. Seriously. Sorry, Mom.

The lone image from the night:

I LOVE MY MOM.

2009-03-09T16:06:00.000-05:00

Banana Cupcakes w/PB Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-03-09T15:36:00.004-05:00

I had a couple of ripe bananas laying around my apartment and knew I just had to take advantage of them in a baking way. Lucky for me, my cupcake-a-day calendar had a recipe for banana & honey cupcakes over the weekend! It was even a vegan recipe, but I blew it with the frosting. I made this simple peanut butter cream cheese frosting, but the texture of it somehow got greasy and weird after I added a certain amount of powdered sugar. Still tasted just fine, thankfully. The cupcakes were more than divine. The cake was dense and chewy with a strong, delicious banana flavor. I liked that it was sweetened with honey instead of sugar (there was a hint of brown sugar in there, though). The frosting was the perfect compliment, although it did overpower the cake if there was too much. I'm glad I added the chocolate drizzle (albeit not very well) because it added an extra layer of sweetness and flavor. These suckers could fill you up in one bite, they were so dense. I'm not complaining!

I had meant to make a half batch but started using full-batch amounts of the ingredients and couldn't turn back. I was presented with many opportunities to share them. I brought them to a party the night I made them, where they were devoured (someone even gave me $1 for one!) and then to a group meeting for a project the next day, eliminating them in less than 24 hours. I didn't need them laying around anyway.

German Chocolate Cake

2009-03-09T14:30:00.004-05:00

My mom loooooves German chocolate cake. I remember her making her own German chocolate birthday cake when I was younger. I thought I would put my passion and skills to use and give her what she really wanted and what I could really afford for her birthday - you guessed it. I did cheat by using a boxed cake mix, but I just haven't gotten to the point where I can guarantee results of homemade cake recipes. Plus, I didn't want to go out and get cake flour just for this. The cakes baked up just fine (although it was foolish to whisk the batter instead of beating it). My mom wanted a 4-layer cake instead of just 2 thick layers, so I let her cut it. Goodness knows I'm no good at cutting things straight. She did just as bad of a job as I would have done, which you can see in the picture. She didn't care about how lopsided it was, just about how good it tasted!

I did make the topping from scratch. I got the recipe from myhomecooking.net, aka the first recipe that popped up on Google that seemed legit. It started out pretty runny but I thickened it up and it set up just fine. It was a little too sugary for even me. It wasn't quite sticky enough to glue the layers together properly, or maybe we just didn't let it set for long enough. Either way, the cake fell apart when we cut it and served it. It was met with rave reviews, though, so I'm going to chalk it up to a success and have another go next year.

Pies, Pies, Pies

2009-03-09T13:44:00.004-05:00

I have developed a passion for making pies. I think it originally stems from my passion for Pushing Daisies and Ned's passion for pie making. It takes so, so, so much work but is completely worth it. There is nothing like spending an afternoon peeling & slicing fruit and making a crust by hand. I don't like to toot my own horn, but I make the all-time best pie crust. It's out of this world. Unbelievable. Even though I should refrain from eating the stuff, I try the little nibbles of dough left behind on my rolling surface and make sure I have extra crust with no regard to the filling inside. Pies will definitely be something I offer in my future bakery. There's just so much joy in making them.

Last week I made a nice rustic pear tart, recipe courtesy of Ellie Krieger on Food Network. The dough recipe was a little different and turned into difficult dough to work with, so I'll be sticking with my own recipe from now on. The pear filling wasn't outstanding, which is to be expected when you make a "healthy" pie. I topped it with shavings of Gruyere and it was perfect. I love that flavor combo.

Last night for Sunday Night Supper Club's Southern theme, I made an apple pie. I was originally going to sell it to a friend but it didn't work out, leaving me with 6 apples just begging to be sugared. Something very exciting happened for me while I was peeling these apples - I peeled one in one long strip! I have always been jealous that my mom can do that and now I am right on par with her, a true accomplishment. Despite that, I would really like an apple peeler.

Last time I made a covered pie, I didn't quite get the filling cooked enough. I was a little more patient this time, resulting in almost-completely-perfectly-done apple filling. I'll get it next time! The smell was heavenly and everyone truly enjoyed what I had made.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies w/Cream Cheese Filling

2009-03-08T15:27:00.003-05:00

I have wanted to try my hand at whoopie pies for sometime. They just seemed like the perfect marriage of cake and cookie. I had been craving something very pumpkin-y and had an extra can of the stuff. I also had some extra cream cheese laying around, so this whole recipe just kind of came together out of the blue. The cake part of them was a little overmoist - too much oil or pumpkin perhaps? They stuck together and were hard to transport. Next time I'll try baking them a little longer as well, as that could have been the real culprit. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect compliment to the cake. Everyone I gave one to was raving! I will definitely be including these in my future bakery.

Sunday Night Supper club 3/1

2009-03-08T15:04:00.005-05:00

We went back to our roots last week by doing Indian, but we kicked it up a notch by doing home-made Indian dishes. We decided to do Mixed Bean Curry and Sweet Potato Spinach Curry, both from my British vegetarian cookbook. I also made naan from scratch! It turned out fabulous. My friend David brought back a delicious chai masala recipe from Kenya and made it for us all. My friend Renee made this thoroughly delicious mango ice cream that we all enjoyed. It was only 5 of us, the smallest meeting ever. It was the perfect mesh of personalities, though. Not a ton of pictures this time, but I was too busy enjoying my company!

The spread.

My plate + chai masala

Clean plate club

Delicious ice cream

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

2009-02-28T23:05:00.003-06:00

When I own a bakery, I want to have a few different kinds of chocolate chip cookies. I've already posted about my Levain Bakery ripoffs (I think?) that are almost cakes, but these are thin and the perfect mix of crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. I'm not going to say where I found my recipe because I don't want anyone to know about it. :) I made this small batch for my good friend in South Carolina for when A visited her this week.

I love my heart-shaped measuring cups!

Fresh Pear & Gruyere Pie

2009-02-28T22:24:00.004-06:00

I totally ripped this idea off of the show Pushing Daisies, which regular followers of my blog know that I adore. One day I just couldn't resist my temptation to make it and headed to the grocery store. Gruyere is expensive!! I made the pie entirely from scratch, something I am very proud of. Making pie crust is pretty complicated but entirely do-able. Unfortunately, I forgot to add the cheese under the crust before baking and panicked while cleaning my hair and added the cheese on top before figuring out how much longer it would take the pie to bake. The cheese started to get crispy so I had to take it out before the center was really cooked enough. It was a learning lesson for sure. Next time I'll make sure to brush the bottom of the crust with egg whites to keep it from getting soggy.

The dessert was very grown-up and a lot less tart than apple pie, although it had a similar flavor. I love pears so I was very pleased with the taste. I was surprised at how much everyone else loved it, too! Something to consider when I open a bakery. Maybe I'll just do a pie shop like on my favorite show!

Ready to go in the oven!

I have an order for an apple pie so I'm going to apply all the lessons I learned with this first one!

Sunday Night Supper Club 2/22

2009-02-28T21:53:00.004-06:00

This past week of SNSC was pizza! We made handmade crust and I even made myself a gluten-free pizza. Making the crust was quite the experience. I learned a lot about making the dough with the first batch that made the second batch a lot easier. We used pizza stones to give the crust a nice chewy inside and crispy outside. The crusts were huge (just look at the pics)! My gluten-free pizza was interesting to make but tasted almost exactly like regular wheat pizza - but not according to anyone else. People were calling me "saintly" to be able to eat it! I guess it's good that I'm the one who likes it, right? We had limited toppings due to a limited showing: green pepper, jalapenos, mushrooms, and pineapple. Everyone was satisfied with those, thankfully! I also served my fresh pear & gruyere pie (blog post coming soon) for dessert. We gobbled it up.

Leaning tower of pizza ingredients

Topping pizza #2

Pizza #1

Gluten-free way to be!

Gigantic second pizza

Sunday Night Supper Club 2/15

2009-02-28T21:41:00.004-06:00

The week of 2/15 we decided to do breakfast for dinner. We made huevos rancheros and crepes. I love crepes and haven't had them in a long time, maybe even since I was in French Club in high school. For the crepes we had toppings of nutella, mixed berries, bananas, and homemade whipped cream. We did huevos rancheros the authentic way, with fried corn tortillas and a sunny side up egg. Okay, I was the only one to do it sunny side up while everyone else chickened out and did scrambled eggs. We had toppings of cheese, salsa, sour cream, and hot sauce for those. Everyone's favorite part of the meal were the hashbrowns. We shredded them by hand and added some onions and "special stuff" and then fried them forever. I didn't use a big enough pan and underestimated the amount of shredded potato on hand, so it took forever to do them. A lesson for next time. A brought apple & orange juice to top off the meal. I didn't even make dessert because the crepes took on that role. I love breakfast and wish I could eat like this every day.

Coincidence

2009-02-25T22:06:00.002-06:00

Just got Trainspotting from Netflix and was planning on watching it & Slumdog Millionaire tonight before bed. I just realized they're both directed by Danny Boyle. He hasn't even directed many movies. I've never seen a movie of his before so I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm hoping for the best.

Yes, Please.

2009-02-25T00:43:00.001-06:00

p.s. I have 2 sunday night supper club & 3 baking blogs coming. so so so busy with school stuff & baking.

2009-02-19T22:01:00.002-06:00

Deleting all my pop-punk (okay, just 98% of it) music off my Zune. I realized today that I skipped over almost every song because it just doesn't make me happy or match my mood. It's just too juvenile for me. I like substance, I guess. Guess I'm just a melancholy indie chick now.

Don't worry, I still love The Maine. And Saves The Day doesn't count because everyone likes them, even hipsters.

Beep Beep!

2009-02-12T21:34:00.002-06:00

This is mine!! My dad was working at a franchising expo at the Minneapolis Convention Center this past weekend for his company and got to know the guy from RS Motorsports at the booth across from his. They had this scooter on display and the guy offered to sell it to my dad for $800! It was too good to refuse and I've been looking for a way to get around, especially to work, grocery shop, and get to Uptown to see A without taking an hour's worth of buses. I had to pay the $800, but I had been willing to pay $1000 for a car. Once I'm gone to England in the fall, my mom can use it to get to work. I'm going to make her pay for it, of course!

It goes up to 35 MPH, gets around 100 MPG, and is cute to boot! I'm a little nervous about riding this, but I'm going to practice in parking lots with my dad until I feel comfortable enough to zoom around the city. Wish me luck & look for me flying by soon!

Strawberry Shortcakes

2009-02-12T21:18:00.003-06:00

For Italian Night for Sunday Night Supper Club last week (see previous post), I wanted to do something lighter to go with our carb-heavy meal. I decided to do mini strawberry shortcakes, using vanilla cupcakes as the base. I got the recipe from my Cupcake daily calendar. I did cheat by looking ahead at a December recipe for a basic vanilla cupcake. I liked the density of the cake, but they dried out quickly. I'll have to add a little oil next time. I knew they had the possibility of drying out because the batter going into the cupcake tin was more like cookie dough than cake batter. I also forgot to pick up more cupcake liners at the store, so I just greased the cupcake tins. That could have contributed to them drying out.

I also bought some baker's sugar to see if it made a noticeable difference in my baking. It was almost the same price as regular sugar so I knew it'd be worth it. Boy, was it! My batter was so smooth and creamy; no grains at all! I will never go back.

To transform these into shortcakes, I sliced open the cakes and spooned some whipped cream on the bottom half, adding a couple of strawberry slices. I put on the top, then adding a bit more whipped cream and strawberries.

I'm trying to become a better baking blogger, so I tried to take pictures of the entire process of making these. I forgot most of the time, but hopefully I'll get better at it.

The ingredients, plus my heart-shaped measuring utensils to add a little love. :)

Beating the butter and sugar.

Cooling.

Yum!

Sunday Night Supper Club 2/8

2009-02-12T20:49:00.004-06:00

This week was Italian Night. We made eggplant parmesan with spaghetti and marinara and vodka sauces, salad with Italian dressing, and bread twists made by my good friend David. Blake and Molly had the bright idea to bring sparkling water and strawberry nectar to make Italian sodas. I also made mini strawberry shortcakes for dessert. My mom had brought over some huge chucks of triple chocolate bundt cake, so i cut that into manageable slices to use for the shortcake if someone preferred that over the vanilla cupcakes I made. (Another post on those to follow.) We stuffed ourselves silly since we made so many eggplant slices.

Why I Was Named Yvonne (According To My Dad)

2009-02-11T00:15:00.002-06:00

The 1976 cover of Sports Illustrated:

Yvonne's on the right. My dad thought that Yvonne was hot and I guess it stuck with him until '89, when I was born.

Coconut Special K "Cookies"

2009-02-08T19:00:00.004-06:00

I put cookies in quotation marks because these were more just copious amounts of coconut and sugar mixed with egg whites. I had an intense craving for coconut, so I found this recipe. I substituted Special K for cornflakes because that's what I had on hand. These were somewhat like macaroons, I guess. I drizzled half of them with milk chocolate for even more sweetness.

I honestly ate 4 of these right after they came out of the oven. I couldn't help myself. They were really gooey and not quite set in the middle, but I didn't care. The next day they had firmed up more, so I ate the remaining 8. I can't believe myself, but they were simply irresistible. So light and airy (due to the whipped egg whites) and sweet. If you aren't obsessed with sugar, definitely cut the amount in half or use even less than that. I will probably make these again when another craving hits!

Ayo Technology

2009-02-07T20:37:00.002-06:00

I just got one of those little tab pictures instead of the boring Blogger 'B' thanks to this site. A little complicated but it was worth it!

Also, Pixlr.com is my new best friend. I've been whining internally about how I don't have photoshop on my computer anymore but this is just as good & free!

On the Mississippi

2009-02-07T19:07:00.003-06:00

Today I convinced A to take a long walk with my be the Mississippi since it was so nice outside - a balmy 33 degrees and sunny. I lugged on my old winter boots (the first time all season, I admit) to make myself unstoppable in the slush and puddles.

It's nice to walk along the Mississippi, but it's even nicer to walk ON it! I wish I had brought my camera along to document our escapades on the melting river. Maybe I'll bring my camera along with me tomorrow when I take a walk if I don't work.

I love walking. I have knee/back/lung problems that prevent me from running so walking is the next best thing for me. I can cover a lot of ground and I'm known as a superfast speed walker! I hope to do it a lot more as the weather gets nicer out.

Magic

2009-02-07T18:28:00.002-06:00

I love whimsical, magical, fantastical things. Not in a nerd way, but in a little kid way. I went to see Coraline in 3D last night and I loved it an unbelievable amount. Definitely spend the extra bucks for the 3D experience because I feel it definitely added to the film. There were so many extra touches that made me break out into a wide grin. I was squeezing A's arm every time anything extra cute happened. Go see it!

To build on whimsy, I posted before about Pushing Daisies. I just got Season 1: Disc 1 from Netflix today and watched all the episodes right in a row! It is so cute, so fanciful, so colorful, so.... everything I love in a movie or TV show! There were many times I teared up. The actress who plays Chuck has a birthday the day after mine, so maybe that's how I can identify with that character so well? Anyway, I wish this show hadn't have been cancelled so it could go on forever and ever. I wish I lived in Couer d'Couers. I want to be enveloped in that world - much like how Coraline was enraptured with alternate reality! I don't think my life would be in imminent danger if I stayed there, though.

I really want to make an apple pie with Gruyere baked right into the crust after watching that last episode.

How To Make The Perfect Baked Potato

2009-02-06T16:06:00.004-06:00

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Poke holes all over potato.
3. Spray liberally with cooking spray.
4. Sprinkle on generous amount of salt.
5. Pop in oven, right on the rack, for around 1 hour. Depends on size & age of potato.
6. Cut open, enjoy the crispy skin and fluffy interior.

I love baked potatoes. On Thursday in high school, we had potato bar at the salad bar. I would always load mine up with sour cream and cheese. I can't have sour cream OR cheese now, so I just dab on some margarine. With this perfect texture, I am completely satisfied with my bare-bones potato.

Tennessee Or Bust!

2009-02-05T22:08:00.003-06:00

I really want to make it out to Bonnaroo this year! 4 days, June 11-14. I hate camping but will just have to suck it up! The lineup is very appealing to me:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Band Of Horses
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

meowwwww, who's up for a road trip?

Do Not Shop At Karmaloop.com

2009-02-04T21:59:00.002-06:00

I ordered those lovely boots I posted about earlier from Karmaloop.com in December. I received a package right before my vacation to Florida containing the completely wrong items: a men's hoodie and t-shirt. I didn't have time to return it, so I had to do it when I came back. I paid $8 for shipping the package back with the promise they would reimburse me if I emailed them the receipt. I did so 2+ weeks ago and still haven't gotten that money back. I bugged and bugged them about receiving my package and sending me the right thing back and was assured they would process the return in FIFTEEN DAYS. Today I received an email saying the item I originally ordered is now out of stock so they're refunding my money. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??? I wish their customer service actually picked up the phone so I could bitch at them for a long, long, long time.

The Next Six Weeks

2009-02-03T21:24:00.003-06:00

Fitting perfectly into a pair of pants that you didn't think would make it past your thighs is possibly one of the greatest feelings in the world.

For Lent I always try to do something instead of giving something up. I'm going to try to work out 4 times a week. This means mostly in my bedroom with my secret little plan, but I am also going to try to walk a couple of miles when it's nice outside since I can't run. I think this will really improve my neck and back problems now that I'm out of physical therapy.

I also want to do a volunteer activity. There is this program with elderly people I wanted to check out last semester but I will this semester. My only problem is that I'm trying to return to my second job and obtain a third, so I don't know how much this will help.

A third thing for Lent is to reach out to more friends. I started today by setting a homework date with a friend in all my classes & setting up a weekend get-together with a friend I don't see nearly enough. It's really hard for me to reach out to others so I'm really working on improving that.

Working out gives me a lot of energy. I'm dancing around in my undies to Girl Talk. I'll have to start homework sometime soon.

CARBS RETURN

2009-02-02T22:29:00.004-06:00

Food For Life's rice almond bread is SO good. I bought it for a hefty $6 for a loaf that's about half the size of a regular loaf a bread, but twice as dense. It tastes just like regular bread. It doesn't really toast (I think it has to do with the density) but it tastes good with a good amount of topping - jam, black beans, apple butter, whatever. I can't wait to make toad-in-the-holes with this!

Aw Yeahhh

2009-02-02T13:35:00.001-06:00

In Existence Just For Me

2009-02-02T13:32:00.001-06:00

Precious Tongues: Bunnies

Sunday Night Supper Club 2/1

2009-02-02T12:59:00.003-06:00

I'm going to start documenting what we create because I have a feeling it'll be getting more creative and labor-intensive.

This week we decided to do a Caribbean theme with jerk marinated chicken breasts, rice & black beans, fried plantains, and pineapple slices. I wish whole pineapple wasn't so expensive in Minnesota so we could have had it fresh. The fried plantains were the most fun to make. We marinated the chicken in KC Masterpiece's Spice Caribbean Jerk 30-Minute marinade and baked it. It turned out moist and delicious. The rice and beans were a nice side to it all. The previously-posted cheesecake brownies were the perfect finish. I would have liked to do something tropical-themed for dessert (like Key Lime Cupcakes I made once before) but everyone was craving something with chocolate and cream cheese. Here's a snap of Blake's plate:

Next week we're thinking Italian. Eggplant or Chicken Parmesan? Turkey Meatballs? Who knows what'll turn up.

Cheesecake Brownies

2009-02-02T12:51:00.003-06:00

I made these once before for my physical therapy office using a brownie mix, but for Sunday Night Supper Club last night I made even the brownie part from scratch. I like how these are just the right mix of sugary sweet from the brownie and tart from the cheesecake. I got the idea from the cookbook Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale and the brownie recipe from Cooks.com. I wish I had gotten a picture of the plate of brownies all cut, but they honestly disappeared too fast for that to happen. I think everyone had two of them.

On a side note, I find it personally offensive when my roommate bakes 4 packages of premade cookie dough. Just give me the $8+ you spent and I'll make you something that actually tastes good.

2009-02-02T12:47:00.001-06:00

Microphone - Coconut Records

Lovin' this song. I just decided to check out Coconut Records for the first time a week or two ago and I really like it. Some of the songs really start to get old after a few listens, but this song is my favorite off of both releases. It's the right amount of catchy.

Dream Weaver

2009-01-29T22:46:00.003-06:00

I have been having the most lucid, crazy dreams lately. This morning, I woke up absolutely terrified from a dream I was having.

In this dream, I was at "home" (it didn't look anything like my house) and there were prisoners being brought into my living room for interrogation in front of a small crowd. There was this one prisoner that had to be beaten to a complete pulp to get him to settle down enough for the guards to walk him to the chair in the middle of the room and chain him down since he was trying to bite and kick everyone. As they were chaining him to the chair, I saw a giant missile coming towards my house out of nowhere. It landed right next to the window I was standing by, just tearing up earth, but thankfully not exploding. For some reason, these missiles seemed to be only for the purpose of destroying things with their sheer size and mass. Everyone in the room noticed that dozens more were coming at us and we all scrambled to run for cover.

Despite the previously mentioned prisoner's disposition, I immediately took his arm and dragged him with me to hide behind a couch. All previous notions of each other (his loathing of me, my fear of him) were left behind as we made each others' lives our priority. I took out my cell phone to text A and let him know that I loved him because I didn't know if I would ever see him again, but I realized in my dream that he was in jail and didn't have a cell phone! I started absolutely bawling because there was no way for me to give him a final message to let him know I cared if something bad happened to either him or myself. (I often have this fear when riding in a plane or having a daydream that the bus I'm on will lose control on the Washington Ave. bridge and plunge into the Mississippi below where I will die quickly from hypothermia and because I can't hold my breath underwater for shit.)

Suddenly, a giant, gold force field came out of nowhere to protect the entire planet from this alien attack. (It had just dawned upon me out of nowhere that the missiles were coming from outer space.) My mom and I realized that it was someone from the future coming back in time to protect us all. We chanted a cheer that I've forgotten in waking hours and danced around hugging each other. I called a friend in Boston (I have no friends in Boston) who had not been disturbed by anything of the sort and realized that the attack had only happened in a few places and very few people in the world knew that this had just happened and doom had been prevented by a prophet from the future.

That is when I woke up and thanked my lucky stars that hadn't really happened. Trust me, this dream is only as crazy as numerous others I've had lately. Is something in the water or am I just being driven crazy by ungodly amounts of thinking needed for classes, homework, and work?

"It's All Happening!"

2009-01-29T22:40:00.002-06:00

Just finished my 500-word essay that goes along with my application to study abroad at Manchester Business School! The nervousness I was feeling a few months ago is gone, replaced totally by excitement and desire. I'm only a little worried about getting in! I might apply to this new, unannounced program to a school just outside of Paris as a backup. I'll have to wait 2 weeks for it to be added to submit my application if I want to do that. A talk with my adviser is due to see if it's worth waiting for!

Progress

2009-01-29T15:42:00.002-06:00

Right after my car accident, I could only bend down and touch my knees, and that was working really hard at it.

The other night I was stretching and I touched my toes! It was a big accomplishment. I've been telling everyone!

Drained

2009-01-22T23:24:00.002-06:00

I've been up since 6:30 and I'm just now about to go to bed at 11:30. I have not stopped doing things that I am required to do (physical therapy, classes, work, homework) since I woke up. Exhaustion doesn't even come close to describing this. I am completely overwhelmed.

And I'll be up at 7:30 to start it all over again.

2009-01-22T23:06:00.001-06:00

Story of my life.

Fin.

2009-01-22T10:45:00.001-06:00

Today I ended physical therapy. I'm both happy and sad because I do feel
a lot better than I did when I started, but I am also going to miss my
PTs. They are always super nice and we always talk about food and
school. I made them cheesecake brownies today to thank them.
Unfortunately, I was in too much of a rush last night to take pictures!
I will definitely be making them again so I hope to snap a few pictures
then.

I'm also bummed I don't have anyone telling me to work out anymore! It
will be harder to keep up the regimen on my own. I need to somehow set
aside sacred time that cannot be used to do anything else, especially
nap!!!

My back is still a little sore, probably from doing really heavy weights
on the machines there for the past week. I hope it clears up so I don't
have to go back. I'm trying to think positively and keep in mind that
3-hour chunks of my time won't be taken up by riding the bus to Eden
Prairie anymore.

Turkey Meatballs

2009-01-19T22:46:00.004-06:00

A & I made turkey meatballs with rice spaghetti and sauce tonight for dinner - his brilliant idea. They turned out absolutely delicious; I have never liked meatballs but these were exceptional. They were super easy to make, too: Just mix, form, and cook! I'll definitely make these more often.

Recipe from Cooks.com as a result of a Google search.

2009-01-18T20:07:00.000-06:00

How To Be Trailer from How To Be on Vimeo.

2009-01-18T00:22:00.002-06:00

Opening The Hymnal/babies - Cu...

Bummed I missed this show, but more bummed that I had to spend that money on textbooks. I didn't have Happy Hollow until 2 days ago for some dumb reason but now I have it and I love it. This is my favorite songggg.

Gaga for GaGa

2009-01-18T00:03:00.002-06:00

Lady GaGa fascinates me. She's like Karen O with the fashion, but crazier because she never wears pants... ever. At least she's got the hot body to do it. I have a little crush on "Just Dance" but I just downloaded The Fame out of curiosity and it suxxx. Oh well. She does have proven talent, though. She's been writing songs for pop stars for ages. She was also one of the youngest people ever to be accepted into NYU's Tisch School of Arts back in the day. Unfortunately, her Oompa Loompa tan ruins most of that credibility.

2009-01-17T22:24:00.001-06:00

Kick It Up A Notch?

2009-01-15T20:14:00.003-06:00

I was invited to be in the University Honors Program for my junior and senior years, something I declined when I was first admitted to the U of M. I don't know if that's something I want to do! I certainly haven't struggled too much in the classes I've taken so far, but do I really want to increase the difficulty level and workload with Honors classes? I would also have to complete a project to graduate with honors. I work two jobs already though, so I don't want to completely kill my social life and turn into a bona fide geek over the next two years. Plus, I don't know if it's possible to get enough honors credits in if I study abroad in the fall.

Overall, my mind is made up towards not joining the program right now. The kinds of jobs I'm interested in won't really care if I graduated with a couple Latin words behind my degree. However, I've been contemplating working for a food giant like General Mills after graduation. My uncle who works there said I should really consider a big company, even though I've rejected that idea from the start. He could put in a good word for me as well. I think I'll just need to talk to him about careers within General Mills that would intrigue me. A company like that would definitely be impressed with honors.

I guess I have until August to decide.

Fried Plantains

2009-01-15T18:06:00.003-06:00

I have always wanted to try my hand at making these. With plantains on sale for 4/$1.00 in Kissimmee, I got my chance. They are probably the easiest thing I have ever made (besides toast). A simple, satisfying, not-so-good for you snack. I used a green plantain to make these, which is completely starchy like a potato. These turned out to be a cross between french fries and chips. Not too thick, but more substantial than a chip. I want to make these more often!

Sue's White Rice Muffins

2009-01-15T18:00:00.003-06:00

Got this recipe from the side of the package of Bob's Red Mill White Rice Flour that my grandparents gave me for Christmas. I've been craving something carb-y but manageable because of my stomach restrictions. These are pretty great! Just something simple and plain that serves as an excellent vessel for jams and butters. (I look for any chance to eat raspberry preserves or apple butter.) I whipped them up in less than 10 minutes and they were done baking in 14. This will be something I can put together at night for a fast breakfast before class this upcoming semester.

Greek Chicken With Artichokes (Kottopoulo Me Anginares)

2009-01-15T13:39:00.007-06:00

I have Betty Crocker's New International Cookbook circa 1989 and often page through it for ideas. I was home with my family a couple of days before I went to Florida and decided to try something new for dinner. I had a can of artichokes, so this recipe was just begging to be made. It was a very light dish, not nearly as robust as I was expecting. The sauce is a classic Greek sauce, avgolemeno, made with chicken broth, lemon, and eggs. An easy dish to make that almost anyone will eat (well, maybe not the artichokes) because of the mild flavor.

Brrrrr...

2009-01-15T13:31:00.003-06:00

Coldest morning on record in 5 years here in Minneapolis. This is what the inside of the doors in my apartment look like:

2009-01-15T00:20:00.003-06:00

72 items in my Netflix queue already! Oh boy... At least I'm only doing one at a time so I don't go overboard and neglect real life.

Netflix...

2009-01-14T22:46:00.002-06:00

To get or not to get, that is the question.

I feel like I would never do anything if I had Netflix. I kind of want just the super, super basic one at a time deal, so I can still watch unlimited stuff online. I did cancel my phone insurance so I'm saving $6.50 a month... $8.99 gets me one DVD at a time unlimited plus unlimited online stuff. Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

2009-01-14T22:14:00.001-06:00

...and this is what I come home to.

Personal Letter of Hate

2009-01-14T21:58:00.002-06:00

Dear douchebag taking pictures of me on the beach with your cellphone without asking me,

You are the scum of the earth. Not only are you disgusting for staring at me during my entire four hours at the beach, you documented it. You did it in front of my grandparents. They're the ones who noticed and informed me, making me feel completely humiliated. I should not feel self-conscious at the beach or have to worry about my privacy being invated while on vacation. There is nothing I would have liked more than taking your phone and throwing it into the ocean. I was so humiliated that I couldn't even bear to approach you after I found out about it. You ruined my day.

I hope karma pays you a nasty call.

Sincerely,

Yvonne

Vanilla/Vanilla cupcake from SuperTarget in Kissimmee, FL

2009-01-14T15:55:00.004-06:00

I assume the package means the cupcake was made by Ticklebelly?

This cupcake was surprisingly good. The frosting tasted like grocery store frosting, unfortunately, but the rest was good. The cake was moist, something that never seems to happen at Cupcake by my place in Minneapolis. The filling was a little much, but I liked the flavor. More cream cheese flavor that just straight-up buttercream. I liked the little candy making disk on top, too. It was really messy to eat because there was so much filling and the cake was so flimsy.

I don't usually do plain cupcakes like this, but I'm glad I did. The cupcake was a perfect way to satisfy my sweet tooth for a while. It was big enough to split up and save for later, something I also appreciated for the $4 price tag. (I shouldn't complain - my grandparents paid for it.) Cupcake's cupcakes are $2.50+ and just regular size. I'll give this one a B-.

Florida Fotos

2009-01-14T15:41:00.003-06:00

I didn't take a lot, but that's because I didn't do a lot.

Breakfast at the French Meadow Bakery at MSP Airport before my flight out.

Cocoa Beach, 80 degrees.

Average breakfast: Special K mixed with yogurt and topped with bananas, turkey bacon, hard boiled eggs.

Vanilla/Vanilla cupcake made by Ticklebelly, sold at SuperTarget in Kissimmee. Yum!

Fried Plantains I made :)

I often made my own dinners since I have such heavy restrictions. Shrimp marinated and cooked in Asian Toasted Sesame dressing with rice, fried plantains, and salad.

Pirate ship chillin' by Clearwater Beach.

Yum yum yum.

Apparently this pilot writes inspirational messages in the sky every Sunday. He was working on "PRAY" when I took this while laying by the pool.

2009-01-13T15:00:00.002-06:00

Total Spent While In Florida
1 Small 7-11 Slurpee: $1.39

2009-01-12T00:03:00.002-06:00

"There is no greater love than the love of food."

- George Bernard Shaw

2009-01-11T15:11:00.001-06:00

Happy half-birthday to me!

Florida Update

2009-01-07T18:27:00.002-06:00

+ SuperTarget in Kissimmee had cupcakes from TickleBelly in Denver. I
got vanilla/vanilla. Full review can be expected when I can get some
internet access on my laptop (This is an email from my phone.)
+ Grandparents are feeding me a constant feast. Rice pasta with ground
turkey spaghetti sauce tonight, scallops last night, chinese before
that, and on and on!
+ I haven't spent a dime except for a Ron Jon fleece for my dad that
he'll pay me back for when I get home. All I plan on buying is a Waffle
House breakfast, a Baskin Robbins cone, and a 7-11 Slurpee.
+Cocoa Beach yesterday, in 85 degree heat. I'm as white as a Cullen
compared to the regulars.
+ My grandparents let me sleep as late as I want, aka until noon or one,
and they stay up as late as I do!
+ I've been addicted to TV, watching everything ever. It was my first
time since who knows when that I got to watch Gossip Girl on cable.
- Cold front came through today. We had a high of 70-ish and it will be
in the mid-70s for the rest of my stay. Boo hoo, right?
+ Got a swim in at the condo's pool before it got cold
+ It's nice to have no agenda while I'm here. I can take a walk or take
a nap whenever I please, and change plans if the weather changes or I
want to finish a chapter in my book.
+ I've felt a renewal while here. I want to come back and cook and bake
more and just be more involved with my closes friends.

This is exactly my kind of vacation, although I wish it was warmer now!

Too Good To Be True

2009-01-03T12:22:00.002-06:00

I was supposed to get those sweet boots from Karmaloop.com, right? Well I got my package last night. It wasn't a box but one of those loose things and the stuff inside didn't feel like boots. I opened it up at inside was a fugly men's hoodie and fuglier men's tee. I am leaving tomorrow morning, I don't have time to fix this and I want my boots!!!!

That's what I get for taking advantage of a 50% off coupon. What I save in money is spent in time.

Celeb Crush

2009-01-03T01:43:00.003-06:00

I know he's old & I'm not into how he smoked for 36 years and likes drugs and getting drunk frequently, but he's a writer, a chef, loves to try new things, loves to travel, gets along well with people, has a dry sense of humor and isn't afraid to use sarcasm, and just emanates cool. Anthony Bourdain:

I've been watching No Reservations nonstop lately.

Another Great Gift

2009-01-03T01:14:00.000-06:00

This time, the Listography book from Aaron.

Gifted

2009-01-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

My roommate just gave me this as my Christmas present! The first recipe? Chocolate & chili cupcakes. Yum yum yum!

2009-01-02T01:27:00.001-06:00

Today I deleted my myspace.

Fresh

2008-12-31T20:17:00.001-06:00

Today I showered, exfoliated, shaved, deep conditioned, moisturized, painted my nails, and everything else I needed to do to feel like I'm greeting the new year with my best foot forward.

I'm ready for you.

Resolutions

2008-12-31T19:01:00.000-06:00

+ Put myself first
+ Volunteer!
+ Move on
+ Make more constant contact with true friends

2008-12-30T03:31:00.001-06:00

So lost. I wish I had a way to predict the outcomes of my actions.

Once again I feel so lonely in this world.

Let's Get Wii-tarded

2008-12-26T19:36:00.002-06:00

I am completely obsessed with my family's new Wii Fit. We have been trying to find it & Mario Kart since we got our Wii in the summer. My dad finally found it at Toys R Us on Sunday morning at 9 am, when they get their shipment of 5 in each week.

I was on it for 2 hours yesterday - how else can you get a person to work out for 2 hours??? There's hula hooping (my personal favorite), yoga, strength training exercises like push-ups and planks, aerobics like step aerobics and rhythm boxing, and balance games like penguin sliding and tight rope walking and snowboarding. I couldn't stop playing because I wanted to keep getting better at each exercise & keep unlocking new exercises and games. I set a fitness goal and I have a personal trainer I named Jeff. Half the reason I'm spending four more days at home is to keep playing on it! It's a pretty good addiction, right?

I also love Mario Kart for Wii. We got a steering wheel with it & we'll be getting another soon. I'm not too bad at it (at least the Mushroom Cup!) and you can play with people from all around the world. I like being Baby Peach in the Standard Kart. Gosh... what am I turning into?

I'm having Wiithdrawal... must make it home early tomorrow to feed my addiction.

Christmas Loot

2008-12-26T19:10:00.003-06:00

In addition to $45 and a $30 Target gift card, I received:

Michael Graves Design 6-Speed Hand Mixer

Smartwool Fair Isle Socks x 2:

Jelly Belly!

Lindt Chocolate Squares

Sweaterrrs

+ a similar one in ivory
In red, too:

Rice Flour x 2:

Vanilla Extract x 2

Wii Fit:

Mariokart for Wii:

I got my brother a Roy Lichtenstein book from the Art Institute in Chicago, Best American Travel Writing edited by Anthony Bourdain for my mom, and Malcolm Gladwell's new bestseller, Outliers, for my dad. I have already started reading the book I got my dad and I love it. I love learning about strange stuff like that; he's the guy who wrote The Tipping Point if you're familiar with that.

In all honesty, I don't really care about the gifts I got. I was just happy to spend some time with my family and see extended family on both sides. I would have been fine if I hadn't received anything. I'll actually be going home for four more days tomorrow until New Year's Eve.

A Christmas Miracle

2008-12-26T02:08:00.002-06:00

I dropped my SK3 in the sink today while I was washing my hands. I panicked, flung it across the counter, took out the battery, & started wiping it off with a towel. Water got stuck under the glass covering the screen. My tech-savvy uncle that just happened to be over for Christmas dinner helped me tear it apart, dry out the screen, and dry out the insides. It wouldn't work the first time I put the battery back in when it seemed all dry & it started doing weird things when it finally turned on, then the x,v, and m buttons wouldn't work on the keyboard. 30 minutes later, it was in full working order again. I'll have to cancel the insurance because one of the water damage stickers turned red & they won't replace a phone with a red sticker. But still, how lucky am I? I am on my phone all day, every day looking up stuff on Google & Wikipedia, checking Facebook & Myspace, catching up on my Google Reader, texting, IMing, and talking. I've got a calendar, tasks to complete, and notes to remember. If I had lost use of it... it would have been the end of my world.

Chi Town

2008-12-25T22:42:00.003-06:00

What a great trip! I'm so glad I tagged along with Kate for her visa-getting stuff. The Megabus there was late (They had to use 2 coach buses.) and so we got there pretty late.I got extremely sick, probably from the half container of black bean salsa I ate with tortilla chips. Nothing would help, so I rode out the storm for 7 hours and finally got relief when I went to sleep. We got unlimited weekend Metra tickets and took the train out to Brookfield, where we stayed with my friend Lynette.

Thank goodness she picked us up at the station so we knew where to go for future walks to & from her place. Thankfully she had a bed for us. Good thing Kate doesn't have cooties so I could sleep next to her ;)

We woke up and went with Lynette & her boyfriend to take the Green Line into the city. We got off at the Roosevelt stop so we could chow down at the Bongo Room for brunch. I went there in May with Aaron & Kathrine when we went to see Kanye play in his hometown. I got Apple Pear French Toast, with brown-sugar crusted brioche in a apple-pear dried cherry compote with apple spice creme anglaise and toasted pecans. So, so, so good. Kate got carrot pumpkin pancakes with a vanilla bean creme anglaise. Hers was much richer than mine, so I got a nice amount of hers, too! We split delicious hash browns, red potatoes flavored with rosemary and olive oil. A photo from Kate:

We got 3-day CTA visitor passes and batteries for my camera at the Jewel-Osco underneath the L station and then hopped on an Orange Line for a trip around the loop so we could get off to go to the Art Institute. The wind was so fierce and it was so cold that I felt like it was the worst weather I had ever experienced. We got to the Art Institute and started at the top level and decided to work our way around the whole place. We DID get to every exhibit and area that was open. I was bummed that the contemporary wing was closed for renovations. It was crazy to realize that I was looking at paintings that people had created as much as 800 years ago. Some favorites:

Alberto Pasini - Circassian Calvary Awaiting Their Commanding Officer at the Door of a Byzantine Monument; Memory of the Orient

A Jackson Pollock

Grand Wood - American Gothic (This had been on loan when I went with my parents a couple of years ago)

We found our way back to Union Station & took the Metra back to Brookfield, only to have a horribly cold 20-minute walk back to Lynette's. They were watching Burn After Reading so we decided to join them. What a funny flick! Brad Pitt did an amazing job. I was honestly still stuffed from brunch so we didn't catch anything for dinner.

The next day was Kate's appointment at the French consulate. We had a long walk to the Metra station early in the morning, just to make sure we weren't delayed too long by the snow. The sun made it a lot more enjoyable of a walk. We had to wait 30 minutes because the train was delayed by snow (of course). We got into Union Station and took a bus to the consulate just in time to make it! We had to go back at 12:30 so we decided to eat a little and shop a little. I realized I hadn't eaten in 24 hours so we went to this weird buffet that charged by the pound. I got a nice variety of greens and fruits to get me through the day. We stopped at Macy's on State since it was close and we only had so much time. I got this delicious eggnog cupcake from Sarah's Pastries:

It was a nice spice cake with very rich eggnog buttercream frosting. There was as much frosting as cake, making it a little tough to eat and sickeningly sweet at the end. Overall though, delicious.

We headed back to the consulate (where I actually ate the cupcake) and got Kate's visa with no hassle. We then proceeded to shop our little hearts out. It was so nice to spend as much time as we wanted doing whatever we wanted. I think we spent over an hour at Nordstrom Rack, where I ended up buying a pair of white Pumas for working out and stuff. I didn't realize until just now how foolish it was of me to buy all white shoes when I can't even keep black shoes clean. We stopped at H&M, where I got a cute little green cardigan, and at Ulta, where I got my favorite body scrub of all time. My favorite stop was Macy's Merz Apothecary. We smelled ourselves silly with Burt's Bees and Demeter Fragrances and candles. Kate got some BB Peppermint Soap and I got a nice "Madagascar" candle for Lynette for letting us stay with her. I wrote a letter to Santa, too!

We came across the buildings featured on the cover of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

We decided to catch a bite to eat at this place we had been seeing everywhere, The Corner Bakery. I got a bowl of Zesty Chicken Tortilla Soup and a roll, while Kate got a panini and tomato soup. I finagled us a couple of extra rolls for free since they were so good.

Next we sought out "Cloud Gate", aka the Bean in Millennium Park. No one was there since it was so cold and windy and dark outside, so we had our run of the place.

We also saw where Barack Obama gave his big acceptance speech, which was really cool since it was so empty and desolate, having once been overflowing with people. We returned to Union Station, where growing crowds of stranded people were strewn about. Another cold walk back to Lynette's and we decided to hit the hay early.

Tuesday was our last day, with our bus leaving at 3:00. We wanted to take a pretty early train in so we had plenty of time to get sushi. We wanted to find a thrift shop and used book store, plus try Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes, but there just wasn't enough time to get everywhere by bus. Next time! The train was an hour late because of a medical emergency earlier in the morning. It was fun to watch it come in!

We had our sushi about noon at Thai Urban Kitchen, and it was honestly the best meal I think I have ever had. We ordered a "Sushi For Two" platter, with 6 california rolls, 6 shrimp tempura rolls, 6 spicy tuna rolls, 2 tuna, 2 super white tuna, 2 salmon, and 2 shrimp nigiri. SO MUCH SUSHI. I wish I had taken a picture of the platter, but I couldn't resist digging in immediately. We also got miso soup and delicious steamed dumplings of chicken and shrimp with my favorite sweet chili sauce. Definitely my favorite restaurant in Chicago, even over Bongo Room.

We stopped in at a CVS to grab snacks for the bus ride home, which were all pretty unhealthy. Two types of trail mix, fudge striped cookies, peanut butter cracker sandwiches, and a 1.5 liter bottle of water. CVS's in Chicago all sell all kinds of liquor. So weird for me. Another weird thing about Chicago: EVERYONE wears fur. We saw so many full-length fur coats. It was so gross. I hate fur coats. Ew.

The bus ride back was long and exhausting. Honestly, I was just glad that the big snowstorm aligned with our travel to make it the easiest possible. No blizzards while we were driving! I got in at 2 am, only to have to go to my apartment to get clothes for the next 3 days to stay at home for the holidays. Jackie was having tons of people over, all of whom I wanted to chat with and hang out with, but I was exhausted and my mom was waiting. Josh Moore informed me he had played a show in Chicago with You, Me, and Everyone We Know while I was there. I can't believe I missed him. It would have been a real treat.

I love Chicago. I can't wait to go back again. The bus ride is only $45 round trip and I always have Lynette to stay with for free. The trip was a nice 4-day escape from the world, just what I needed.

Best of 2008

2008-12-25T14:39:00.004-06:00

Best Albums
10. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

I waited a long time to listen to this; I was afraid all the hype would be over nothing. I listened to this all summer and as I started classes again in the fall. I don't listen to it that much anymore, but I don't mind hearing a song here and there. Best Song: "Oxford Comma" because I love grammar so much.

9. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

I didn't know if I should count this because he self-released it in 2007, when I first started listening to it. Since everyone else is putting it on their lists, I'm following the crowd. Best Song: "Flume"

8. Anthony Green - Avalon

Another album I didn't think I'd like, but love now. Best song: "Springtime Out The Van Window"

7. Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

I listened to this every time I drove the van at Gopher Grocery this summer. It was perfect to bop along to while driving a huge Dodge Sprinter. Best Song: "Centennial"

6. The Stills - Oceans Will Rise

I remember first hearing this band when I was a freshman in high school. This album is so much more sinister than their other two, and therefore more fun to listen/seduce people to. Best Song: "Snakecharming The Masses"

5. Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors

I had such high hopes for this album and they were met. It's not as good as Church Mouth to me, but still really great. The $90 pre-order package was the best money I spent all year. Best Song: "Lay Me Back Down"

4. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

"Talking Bird" might be the worst Death Cab song of all time, but the rest of the album makes up for it. Best Song: tie between "Bixby Canyon Bridge" and "Cath"

3. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)

Something I randomly came across. I always choose this when I don't know what to listen to. Best Song: "Everybody Here is a Cloud"

2. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

This is soooooo much better than that snooze of an album they released last year. Danceable, darker, this album helped them break out of their "Molly's Chambers"-type rut. Best Song: "Closer"

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

I barely have the right words to describe how I feel when listening to this album. It is so perfect in every way. I've ditched the pop-rock scene (as you can tell by this list) and this album is the cornerstone of this new phase of mine. Best Song: "He Doesn't Know Why"

Honorable Mentions:
- Radiohead - In Rainbows (I felt guilty including this because it was released online in 07, but came out on CD January 1st.)
- Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
- The Kooks - Konk
- Copeland - You Are My Sunshine
- The Maine - Can't Stop, Won't Stop (Just a pleasure, not even guilty.)

Best EPs
3. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant

2. Ben Kweller - How Ya Lookin' Southbound? Come In...

Every year needs a little Ben Kweller, and last year was sorely lacking. I can't believe I missed him playing here at the U for free.

1. Minus The Bear - Acoustics

Uhhhhh... shit. This would be #2 on my albums of the year if I combined this list. Amazing, amazing stuff. I can't get enough. I might be starting to like Minus The Bear more than Portugal. The Man... but shhh, don't tell anyone.

Best Concerts

5. Minus The Bear, Varsity Theater, October 15
4. Portugal. The Man, Varsity Theater, November 9
3. Death Cab For Cutie, Orpheum Theater, June 2
2. Kanye West, Union Center (Chicago), May 23
1. Fleet Foxes, Cedar Cultural Center, October 11

Honorable Mentions:
- Chris Conley & Matt Pryor, Triple Rock Social Club, August 6
- Have Heart & Ceremony, Triple Rock Social Club, November 7

Notable Local Shows:
- City of Sound, Farewell Continental, The Person & The People, Triple Rock, October 12
- Regret & Solidarity, The Fallout, October 4

Best Recipes
(What else would you expect from me?)

5. Copycat Levain Cookies
4. Special K Bars
3. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
2. Ginger Cookies
1. Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Honorable Mentions:
- Key Lime Cupcakes
- Cake Balls
- Self-filled cupcakes

New Winter Boots

2008-12-24T22:49:00.001-06:00

because I had a 50% off code to Karmaloop.com (YEEZY)

Tretorn Skerry Vinter Glossy boots in Burgundy

Grades Grades Grades

2008-12-24T11:09:00.003-06:00

I didn't think I would get the grades I was hoping for this semester, but I ended up getting all A's with one A-!!! My term GPA is 3.9, which boosted my cumulative GPA to 3.83. I was so excited when I found out 5 minutes ago that I abandoned my gift wrapping and ran around my house telling my family. I couldn't be happier that everything came together in the end. What a great Christmas present from school, especially since I've been thinking about the importance of grades in college and if it's really worth it to keep mine up. Judging by today's satisfaction, I'll definitely keep aiming high.