using blogger was giving me a headache! so I switched to wordpress, which actually works better with my macbook =) visit my new blog address:
- 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup oats
- 3 pineapple rings, chopped, from a can
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- crunchy granola for sprinkling on top
spent most of the afternoon napping, and then visited my grandmother - who made me eat some fruit. I came home starving, so I cooked some vegetable rice pasta, to which I added some pasta sauce and four leftover meatballs.
I just went on a 16-night trip to Nassau, Bahamas, thanks to my Uncle who graciously invited my boyfriend and I to come stay in his empty oceanfront condo! At first I didn't actually think I was going to take him up on the offer because Bryan (my boyfriend) works full-time and I didn't want to go alone, but he was able to get time off work - so off we went!
walked around marinas looking at the gorgeous yachts...
and ate a lot of delicious food!...
I started this morning with simple bowl of oatmeal:
-1/2 cup milk & 1/2 cup water
-2 mini bananas
-cinnamon
-a few golden raisins
I had a late breakfast, so I managed to find some things in my refrigerator to throw together. I ate a pita sandwich with turkey, lettuce and cucumbers; I also had another piece of turkey, pita slices, cucumbers to eat with the hummus.
...I won't be in my kitchen again until Dec 29th because I am on vacation in the Bahamas! I can't wait to get back to my dog and baking.
This past Saturday my family got together for dinner, so I decided to make one of their favorite desserts...a fresh fruit tart filled with traditional vanilla pastry cream - they love anything made with fresh fruit. It was delicious, but since I didn't have any gelatin on hand to stabilize the pastry cream, it kinda ran out the sides of the tart when we sliced it. Personally, I would prefer to make individual sized fruit tarts because it preserves the visual presentation of the tart... the larger tart is really not the same after its been sliced.
8 egg yolks
10 T cornstarch
8 oz sugar
(vanilla)
(2 oz butter)
2. whisk the sugar and the cornstarch together
3. place the eggs in a stainless steel bowl
4. slowly whisk the sugar/cornstarch mixture into the yolks
5. add the simmering milk, making sure all the sugar granules melt
6. pour the batter back into the pot and boil for several minutes until the pastry cream thickens significantly and the starchy taste has dissipated
-continuously stirring with a whisk
7. take the pot off and add the butter
8. strain the pastry cream in a sieve to remove the chaleaze
9. cool in an ice bath
- 1.5 cup self-rising flour
- 1.25 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
On Saturday I went to Hello Cupcake! in dupont circle because I have actually never been there since they opened and also because I wanted to see and taste the cupcakes. We got a carrot cake, gluten-free carrot cake, and a vanilla-gorilla cupcake. For $3.00 a cupcake, they were ok - I've definitely had better carrot cake; the gluten-free carrot cake cupcake was actually better than the regular one, but the cupcakes were generally kinda dry. All of the cupcakes were iced with creme cheese frosting, which was actually much better in comparison to the cupcakes - maybe thats why there was a disproportionate amount of frosting. The amount of frosting was ridiculous, it made for an awkward eating experience. The only way bryan and I could eat the cupcakes was to use a knife & fork, which i think defeats the whole idea of a cupcake - I might as well have just had a slice of cake). Anyhow, I think the cupcakes were really expensive, but then again the price probably takes into account the fact that Hello Cupcake! is located in the heart of Dupont Circle. Just goes to show that location is everything when it comes to having a bakeshop - the location is often more important than the quality of the product. So will I go back to Hello Cupcake! ??? Probably, but there are other bakeries that I would rather get a cupcake.
Given that I felt awful on Halloween, Bryan and I didn't get dressed up to go out anywhere - I'm such a wet blanket! I did dress up Lilly in a pumpkin outfit - she looked so cute! I feel kinda guilty for being one of those people who dress up their dogs - but in my defense, it was actually my mom who buys Lilly clothes. Lilly probably had the most fun on Halloween out of all of us - all three times trick-o-treaters rang the doorbell, Lilly ran to the door to bark up a storm at the little kids.
here is my dog Lilly at 5:15 AM, laying on my bed watching me get ready for school...she is always so depressed to see me leave in the morning. Unlike most dogs, Lilly is too lazy to get up out of bed to go outside first thing when she wakes up... I have tried to physically peel her off my bed, but she refuses to move!
hello! I have decided to start a blog about my experiences through life as a pastry arts student recently diagnosed with lupus. I started a pastry arts program this past September, and not even two weeks later I was experiencing classic symptoms of lupus - even though I didn't know it at the time. After emergency room visits and nervous trips to my rhuematologist 's office, I was upset yet relieved to finally get a diagnosis. My health issues didn't start just this past September, I've been sick since January- it was just recently that my symptoms became more obvious.