By now the onions and mushrooms should be ready. They will have cooked down quite a lot: The onions will be brown and translucent, and the mushrooms will be a deep sienna.
Monday, August 24, 2009
My Very Favorite Sandwich
By now the onions and mushrooms should be ready. They will have cooked down quite a lot: The onions will be brown and translucent, and the mushrooms will be a deep sienna.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Let me make something perfectly clear.
"What, you're not going to put any ranch on your wrap?"
"No."
"Why not? It must be kinda bland without it."
"Condiments are the spawn of Lucifer."
She slowly lowered her wrap from her incredulous face, gaping at me as though I had just told her that Leonard Nimoy is the second coming.
"...Are.. you... insane."
But let me tell you something right now. I am not insane. Why not? Because CONDIMENTS ARE FROM THE FIERY, SULFUROUS UNDERWORLD. I hate condiments. All of them. Ketchup? Gag me. Mayonnaise? I would rather eat Madonna's pussy. Mustard? Only in very small quantities hidden in my egg salad. Condiments are disgusting. They mar the beauteous quality of any food they come into contact with. I hate condiments. WHO'S WITH ME.
In a similar vein, I am a bit of a purist when it comes to some foods. (By "purist" some might say I mean "insufferable snob", but hey, that's on them.) Take, for instance, the raspberry.
Would you just look at that? Some people would look at this gem of nature and think: "Jam! Cookies! Cobbler!"
Not me. Friends, this is how I have always and will always eat a raspberry:
1. Rinse thoroughly to remove any unwanted guests of the insect variety that may be cuddling inside my raspberry's luscious interior.
2. Pick up berry. DO NOT POP IN MOUTH. Instead, hold up for just a moment in the sunlight. Admire the way the water droplets shimmer enticingly on the rotund crimson bubbles of the raspberry's exterior. Feast your eyes upon the tiny iridescent hairs that sprout innocently from the cracks in the berry's flesh.
3. Now, place in mouth. Slowly. Close eyes, if not driving heavy machinery. Focus on nothing more than the burst of sweet, summery juice inside one's mouth (ooer) and heave a great sigh of content.
4. Repeat.
In case you hadn't noticed, I fucking love raspberries. They're awesome, and I scorn anyone who maintains that a few cups of sugar and a 350 degree oven will improve their inborn awesomeness. Class dismissed.
p.s. By the way, this blog is hereby officially rated R. R for recipe-tastic! Oh and I also swear a lot.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Bailey's Irish Cream Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
My boyfriend likes to make houseguests think I am an alcoholic by buying large quantities of girly liqueurs and not drinking them, ever. So I stole his Mint Chocolate Bailey's Irish Cream and made cupcakes with it. Oh yes. And so should you.
I adapted the recipe from http://www.bakingbites.com/.
Bailey's Mint Chocolate Irish Cream Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Chocolate Mint Bailey’s Irish Cream (or regular Bailey’s + 1/2 tsp peppermint extract)1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, and cocoa). In another bowl, beat together the softened butter, eggs, vanilla, milk, and the Bailey's. Or you can be lazy like me and do it all on one bowl, wet ingredients first. Pour the batter ino muffin tins lines with cupcake wrappers and bake for 12-14 minutes.
While the cupcakes are baking, you can make your frosting. Nicole from Baking Bites goes the homemade route. Here's her frosting recipe:
4 tbsp butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp peppermint extract
But I'll be honest with you: I took a container of store-bought white frosting and mixed in Bailey's and cocoa. How much cocoa? Until it looked chocolatey. How much Bailey's? Until it looked dangerously thin. God, I'm such a cheat. It's almost too easy.
My one complaint with these cupcakes was that they were a little dense; I was hoping for a lighter, fluffier cupcake. Does anyone have any tips?