November 12, 2010

Carrot Ginger Cake with Brown Butter Icing

Welcome to another edition of “Tracy uses her cellphone for a blog post!”

Mission: Make a tasty cake for girl’s night in an hour or less.

Picture this. I spent the day waiting for Casey’s work to let him know if he had to fly out for work that night (which meant I would miss Glee with the girls) or the next morning (I could go to Glee with the girls!). If I could go, I’d have to bring dessert for the 5 of us. If not, then I’d sit at home watching it by my lonesome. This waffling back and forth happened ALL. DAY. LONG. And finally, at 5pm (1 1/2 hours before I was supposed to be at my friend’s house) I got the green light that I COULD GO! Flight was booked for the next morning! Awesome.

So with an hour to whip something up, I enlisted the help of Cooper to make this little cake. I pulled a box of Trader Joe’s Deep Dark Gingerbread Cake Mix from the pantry and added a few ingredients and tada! We have a Carrot Gingerbread Cake. The cake was moist & spicy and the Brown Butter Icing was STELLAR. The girls loved it, just as much as Glee! You might need to think of Coach Beast to help you cool off from eating a slice….but a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream just might do the trick! 😉
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Uncategorized

November 11, 2010

Joy Retreat! Mark Your Calendars!

FRIENDS!!!!

I’m SO excited & thrilled to be teaching at a Be Present: Joy Retreat on the Oregon Coast this coming Spring!

There will be a Painting Workshop with Mati Rose McDonough, a Polaroid Workshop with Andrea Jenkins and a Cooking/Baking Workshop with yours truly! I’ll be helping you find JOY in your kitchen.

Registration is now open! Mark your calendars!

I’d love to see you there. It’s gonna be a blast!

recipes, Uncategorized

November 10, 2010

Pumpkin Cream Pie

Traditions. My life has been full of them, thanks to my mom. But somehow this year, our Thanksgiving isn’t going to be the same. My grandma has moved back to New York, and my brothers will be away so we’re having something very small and quaint at my parent’s house this year. Guess who WON’T be staying up late to clean fancy dishes all night long with her mom? ME! Honestly, I couldn’t be more thrilled. I’ve been craving a breakup in tradition for awhile now. Ever since a few family members past, it’s weird going through the motions, pretending that things are the same.Things aren’t. Life changes! People change! And guess what? So do taste buds!

If you are craving a change in your traditional Thanksgiving meal, add this to the mix! It’s a pumpkin CREAM pie with a sprinkling of crunchy chopped candied pecans on top. Ever wonder what it would be like to have a pumpkin pie candy bar? This flavor profile totally nails it. The buttery crunch and ginger spice of the crust is TO. DIE. FOR. It’s kinda like crunchy toffee! The pumpkin custard is creamy & spicy and the whipped cream with pecan chunks resting in the fluff? OUTRAGEOUS! It’s what dreams are made of.

So wake up your guest’s taste buds and offer them something different. I don’t think they’ll miss a slice of the regular ole’ pumpkin pie. And if your Great Aunt Sally scoffs at her dessert plate filled with this pie, make sure you put a lump of coal on her plate at the Christmas table. Why does she have to be such a Scrooge??!!
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out & about, Uncategorized

November 9, 2010

Thanks, Foodbuzz!

I attended the Second Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival.

I spent a lot of time with Joy, Janet, Allison & Danielle! Very fun!

Here’s what happened:

On Friday night Joy & I went to the Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

recipes, Uncategorized

November 7, 2010

Malted Waffles

Malt…how I love thee…Let me count the ways…

–I love you in a chocolate malt at a baseball game. You are the perfect ending to all the roasted peanuts & hot dogs I inhale. I love you so much that I endure eating you with a wooden spoon. Hey! It’s not that easy!

–I love you in a strawberry milkshake at a diner. I always convince the waitress to add more of you in my cup, because you are THAT good.

–I love you in the Robins Eggs I eat at Easter. I love you so much that I’ve endured bloody cracked lips from wearing off the candy shell to get to you!

–I love you in these Matled Waffles. You add a yeasty depth that mimic the Weekend Waffles & the Buckwheat Belgium Waffles I’ve made in the past. The best part is that I didn’t have to wait for any yeast to rise. You were perfect right off the bat! You make the waffles crispy on the outside and subtly chewy on the inside. You were a star! Now, what should I do with you next?!!
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recipes, Uncategorized

November 4, 2010

Black Beans with Kale & Roasted Squash

I only cook recipes for my blog a few days a week, when my schedule permits. The rest of the time I make stuff up in the kitchen (without photographic evidence) or rely heavily on quesadillas, frozen soups, toast & eggs or sometimes cereal for dinner. Two nights ago I made Molly’s black beans for myself and added Kale to the mix. There I was, bouncing up and down at the dinner table! I was so delighted with my dish but had no one to share it with. Casey had a work dinner, which meant I ate a LOT of beans!

He was home for dinner last night, and despite having it two nights in a row I couldn’t wait to make it for him. Even though it’s kinda hippy/crunchy food, I knew he would enjoy the kick/depth of the black beans and the sweet & savory aspect of the roasted delicata squash & apples.

The light has been disappearing earlier in the evenings, so my cooking schedule is totally messed up as a result! I didn’t feel like whipping out my camera flash, so my trusty cellphone will help tell the tale 🙂
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November 2, 2010

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing

New post: Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing

So I walk out onto the Project Runway stage holding this cake on a pedestal and Michael Kors gasps! He cries, “EFFORTLESSLY CHIC!” Then I proceed to ask him why the screw always comes out on my ritzy MK sunglasses??! Come on, Michael! My Isaac Mizrahi sunglasses from Target have held up for almost 4 years now! Of course, Nina Garcia would like to talk some mad crap about my cake, but the caramelized walnuts shut her up. Yeah girl. You know it’s totally editorial. Zip it. Later on, I catch Heidi scarfing down half of it….

Then I woke up…. Why is this cake effortlessly chic? Well there’s three different recipes that come together to produce a simple, yet killer pumpkin cake. At first, I was intimidated because I usually avoid recipes that refer to ANOTHER recipe to complete an ingredient. I just want it all there, right in front of my face. I want to know how hard I need work and if the effort is going to pay off. So yeah… I was blown away by the ease of this cake. Three different recipes? Child’s play. Chic? Check! Effortless? Pretty much!

This is the cake that we ate on Halloween night. YES. After all that candy wrangling, my friends & neighbors made room for this cake. Once you lay eyes on a cake like this, your stomach sends signals to your brain. “Hey! Let’s make some room for this cake!” Yes, surprisingly, they’ll synchronize their swatches and suddenly you devouring a big slice.

Oh, and did you get a load of those nuts? Make sure you snag one because I might fight you for it.