about
about me.
i'm kelly.
26 year old stressbaker.
about-to-graduate grad school.
new england transplant.
eating through philly & the burbs.
baking my way into the hearts of friends.
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Sunday, November 14, 2010 @ 8:39 PM
Home is...
...where steamed cheeseburgers are impossibly messy from all the cheddar languidly oozing down the side...
...where it's okay to lick your fingers and relish every bite.
...my mom's ice box cake, made just for me.
...celebrating birthdays with Italian whipped cream cake from Lucibello's.
...eating layers of sponge cake with vanilla and chocolate pudding surrounded by family.
Labels: birthdays, cake, cheeseburgers, CT food
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Monday, November 1, 2010 @ 7:03 PM
Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Swiss Haus and a day of lovely ladies!
There are some things you should know about me if you're going to read my blog. I should probably tell you that for as much as I bake, I rarely bake with other people. I bake for people but never with them. I'm a control freak. I have a stirring problem. When I was five, my mom would let me stir something, tell me it looked good and then give it a few more stirs as soon as I relinquished the spoon to her. In my five year old head, my mother was lying. If it was really truly good, it wouldn't have needed those extra stirs. I felt betrayed. I felt inadequate. I felt determined to make every stir count from that moment forward. Yes, it was melodramatic, but it stuck. I have a hard time handing over my whisk to people, even to this day.
A few weeks ago, my friend Annisa asked me to help bake a pineapple upside down cake for her boyfriend's birthday. I may bake solo, but I'm no Scrooge. I've helped friends with baking projects before. I have a big heart and generally can't say no to people. More importantly, I love hanging out with friends that I haven't seen in a while and baking surprises. Naturally, I agreed to help.
Isn't she adorable?
Just look at that bubbling brown sugar... Yum!
The final product.
Baking with Annisa was a ton of fun. We almost had a measuring mishap, but things turned out just fine. I left while the cake was still in the oven, so I wasn't there for the big surprise or to taste it, but Dan was happy with it and Annisa gave it good reviews.
It was great catching up with Annisa and on my way in I may have stopped at Swiss Haus to eat pastry......so the whole day was a win. My friend (and fellow baker) Ana was in town, so we caught up over lemon rolls and cake. I couldn't take pictures inside the bakery so you could see the plethora of cookies and cakes that look like they fell from the happiest parts of my imagination and into a glass case. Please accept my apologies and feast your eyes instead on my lemon roll.
A delicate dusting of powdered sugar covering every light, lemony crumb
Labels: baking with friends, cake, lemon, pineapple, pineapple upside down cake
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010 @ 8:21 PM
beef. it's what's for dinner [ala Minella's]
When it comes to food, I'm an incredibly indulgent person. I'm not a fan of mindless eating. I don't like eating just for the sake of eating. Mind you, I used to be, but that was 30 lbs. ago. Now, I eat with intention. I eat what I want when I want (mostly). I have food cravings like a pregnant woman (though maybe not as strange. I've never craved pickles and ice cream, but I may have more bizarre hankerings some day in the distant future when I find myself about to procreate [God help us]). When I have a certain food on the brain, I have to have it or it'll stay at the forefront of my thoughts until it meets my tastebuds.
Lately, I've been craving a cheeseburger. Actually, scratch that. I've been craving a cheeseburger since halfway through my Ireland trip. When your sustenance is solely composed of sandwiches, it's not uncommon to crave something heartier than a few slabs of deli meat and cheese. I wanted a burger crisp on the outside, slightly pink in the middle, covered by a slice of cheddar and sitting on a soft kaiser roll that would catch any calorie-laden juices that made their way out of my burger.
So, after a rousing Philly Union Game--my first pro sports game ever, can you believe it?--I headed over to Minella's Diner to put an end to my burger-craving madness.
And wouldn't you believe it? Minella's delivered.
Salty bacon, crisp iceburg lettuce, sweet tomato, red onion, yellow cheddar cheese, smokey BBQ sauce, soft kaiser roll.
Even my friend's gyro looked good (and I'm usually not into eyeing up other peoples' food when I'm stuck on something).
(Just look at that feta cucumber tomato salad... oh boy)
You may have noticed that my cheeseburger looked a bit lonely on that plate with nothing but cole slaw to keep him company. French fries and burgers were meant to be together. I'd consider it a sin to keep them apart... unless of course I had good reason.
Meet dessert.
I've walked by the amazing dessert counter at Minella's on more occasions than I can remember, always stopping to wistfully sigh at their ganached mini cakes and flaky ethnic pastries. Yet somehow, in my countless visits, I've never ordered anything from the case. I think maybe I was too tempted by giant omelettes and fluffy pancakes slathered in syrup (I'm a big fan of late-night breakfast). My inaugural dessert? Raspberry cheesecake.
I have to say, it was not what I expected. I wasn't a fan of the bottom chocolate cake in the least. I'm a visual person and if something doesn't look appealing, chances are, it will have to assault my tastebuds with delicious to win me over. This cheesecake was not up for a fight, I guess. The cheesecake was (as you can probably tell) plain and so I felt a little mislead. The raspberry element was heavy on sweetness and lacking a little in the raspberry flavor department. I wasn't wowed, but I'd probably eat it mindlessly if my boyfriend just broke up with me and I was eating my feelings.
As for the chocolate peanut butter number... well, that's another story. The dark chocolate ganache had that sexy sheen that clings to every crevice of cake, leaving no crumb exposed. The peanut butter was super rich and, combined with the dark, dense cake, it was quite the mouthful. Had I not eaten half my cheeseburger a few minutes before, I would have gone to town on the cake and celebrated my efforts with a cold glass of skim milk and a stomachache.
Labels: bacon, cake, cheeseburgers, chocolate, dessert, diner food, gyro, peanut butter