Not too long ago I told you about a major life event. It was pretty exciting and I felt like it was a real stepping stone in my life as an adult.

Well, this weekend I took another step forward.

I bought a car.

(Ok, ok, this one is probably a bit more significant than buying a desk chair, but it was probably just as exciting (I got a lot of grief about that chair).)

It was sad to see the Corolla go. We named him (her? Are cars like boats and always girls?) Little Red just in time to see him (better late than never for a name, eh?) off to a new home.

(please excuse the crappy picture, apparently I don’t know how to use the camera on my phone)

I got Little Red in January of freshman year of college. I remember my only stipulations for a car were four doors and not red. (Apparently I don’t stand by my convictions very well…probably why I’m a terrible negotiator.) Since then, this car has taken me all over the place:

• To 13 states
• To and from college too many times to count
• Home after college graduation
• Moved me to Maryland
• Moved me two more times since coming to Maryland
• To my first day of work at my first real job
• To the fateful snowboarding trip where I fell on my face on the first run of the day and spent New Year’s Eve with a huge black eye swollen shut
• Endless trips between Baltimore and DC
• To the beach
• Road trips up and down the East Coast
• Took The Jackster and me to the Outer Banks

But there are a few things I won’t miss:

• Having to use one key to unlock the doors and a different key to start the car
• The peeling trim, the CD console held shut by a bottle, the broken arm rest, and the general disintegration of the interior of my car
• The feeling of wind blowing through my hair (with the windows up…)
• The broken window that would go down, but wouldn’t go back up
• Broken struts, dead batteries, new sensors, replacement belts…every month (although, I must say, my mechanic and I are quite chummy)

It’s been a fun ride (heehee), but I’m excited for my new wheels. Please say hello to Big Red:

Boy I look sheepish in that picture…ah well…cake is awesome though.

(Oh yeah…Big Red is a Subaru Outback…gotta support my active lifestyle! (and cake schlepping))

I just came back from a week at Lake Tahoe. The weather was beautiful, the water was clear, and the company delightful.

It was a perfect vacation of reading, hiking, water skiing, relaxing, and eating. While I was there I took my first foray into high altitude baking and whipped up a batch of ginger snaps and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t change the chocolate chip recipe at all, but I did reduce the baking soda in the ginger snaps to 3 tsp.

At one point there were 18 of us in the cabin and we managed to devour upwards of 300 cookies in a day and a half. I feel like I should be concerned about this mass consumption, but instead I’m impressed. Who says cookies can’t be eaten for breakfast? (Well, me, but that’s a different story.)

We had a couple of visits from the friendly neighborhood bears who must have known we were having too much fun and eating too many cookies. Sadly I slept through the excitement so I didn’t get to see them. I did wake up at 5 AM the first night I was there to the sounds of what surely was a large woodland creature rifling through my suitcase. However, by the time I managed to get this guy to protect me from the vicious beast, he had escaped while returning all of my stuff to its appropriate place. Turns out those Lake Tahoe animals are quite polite.

Alas, vacation cannot last forever. We’ve returned back to our regularly scheduled lives which means late night baking is back. Tuesday night, me and some blueberries spent some quality time together. It was magical. A post is soon to follow.

We’ve had record breaking temperatures here in Maryland for the last…what seems like forever. When I moved here people would warn me of the hot summers down here to which I would respond, “Pshaw, I can take the heat.”

Ok, I admit, I started writing this post like a week and a half ago when it was still sweltering. Temperatures have fallen to double digits and I can walk to from my car to my office without having to change my shirt. But just because it isn’t ridiculously hot, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some ridiculously good ice cream. (Also, I maintain that slightly cooler temperatures are better for eating ice cream so you don’t have to race to beat the heat before it melts. As a notoriously slow eater, this is important to me.)

I made me (and I say me, because I’m pretty sure I ate this entire batch by myself) some mint chocolate chip ice cream. Please note: mint chocolate chip ice cream requires PEPPERMINT extract. Don’t buy mint extract unless you want to eat a bowl of frozen toothpaste.

I love this ice cream. I used fancy-schmancy dark chocolate, but it was still light and refreshing. It’s the kind of ice cream you want to eat on a hot summer day while sitting in a Norman Rockwell painting.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp PEPPERMINT extract
• 4 oz of dark chocolate, finely chopped

Ice cream is so easy to make.

Combine all of the ingredients except the chocolate in a large bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes if not more. Getting the ice cream mixture really cold before freezing helps keep it creamy.

Pour the ice cream mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream has thickened add the chocolate. Spoon into an airtight container and freeze until hardened. Wax nostalgic.

Hey there, what’s up?

Look, I made a cake! It’s been a while, I know. I’ve missed it. I’ve missed kneading the fondant. I’ve missed icing the cakes. I’ve missed the last minute panicking when something inevitably falls apart.

But I’m back! Life is starting to settle down again so maybe I’ll have some time to bake some more delicious treats. Or maybe not bake because it’s 95 degrees at all points in time. Maybe I’ll just make lots and lots of ice cream.

Anyways…graduation cake! Congrats Sean!

]]> http://www.simmiecakes.com/2010/07/19/graduation-cake/feed/ 2 http://www.simmiecakes.com/2010/07/19/graduation-cake/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Simmiecakes/~3/de5aN3KTDSE/ http://www.simmiecakes.com/2010/07/11/sorry-no-time-to-bake/#comments Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:40:17 +0000 Simmie http://www.simmiecakes.com/?p=1798 Been too busy playing this:

And traveling and moving and doing triathlons. I’ll try to be better.

Technically this is a mixed berry bundt cake. There are two, count ‘em, two raspberries in this cake as well. If you find them, you win a prize. It’s awesome.

This cake is also awesome. And I finally, finally, got to use my new bundt pan. And by new, I mean I got it two Thanksgivings ago and it’s been sitting in my cupboard ever since. It’s not that I don’t like bundt cakes though. In fact, I think bundt cakes are the bee’s knees. It’s just that I have high standards for bundt cakes, so I couldn’t just use any recipe for the inaugural baking with my new pan.

The cake itself is dense and moist and forms that ever-pleasing chewy, slightly sugary crust on top. The berries speckle the cake and add a sweet flavor that is not overpowering and compliments the cake nicely. Seriously, this cake is so good that I ate half of it before I got a chance to take a picture. In fact, I kind of wish I had some right now.

Blackberry Bundt Cake

• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 eggs, separated
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups blackberries (plus 2 raspberries)

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Add the egg yolks one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream and baking soda together.

Add the sour cream and the butter to the sugar mixture, alternating between the two. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into the batter.

Coat the berries with some flour to help them float in the batter and gently combine them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into a 10 inch bundt pan.

Bake for 60-70 minutes until a tested comes out clean.

Elise came to visit this weekend from Chicago! Melissa, Elise, and I all lived together senior year of college and while our apartment lacked 36 packs of Bud Light and rows of shot glasses, we did have a pasta maker and panini press. Let’s just say we like to cook.

So when Foodbuzz came a-knocking for ideas for this month’s 24×24, we jumped at the opportunity.

We’ve been out of college for four years now and I must say, the reality of growing up is starting to sink in. Somehow, without us really realizing it, we’re supposed to be adults. When the heck did this happen? But amid the responsibilities and bills there are some perks to growing up. Our palettes have matured beyond the years of Wonder Bread and bologna (thank goodness) and we can stay up past 10.

We decided to update a few of our favorite childhood foods with more grown-up versions while reminiscing of the good old days of bad haircuts, eighth grade dances, and bad early nineties music. Oh wait, we made a “Gin Blossoms Playlist” on Pandora. Maybe we haven’t come that far.

Melissa lives in Washington DC so we started our day by picking up fresh fruits and vegetables at Eastern Market.

The rest of the food we picked up around town and brought our loot back to Melissa’s house to get a-cookin’.

Gotta make sure we haven’t forgotten anything!

We spent the rest of the day cooking up a storm. We had five dishes to make and hungry guests on their way. Luckily we’ve become quite a team in the kitchen and dinner made it on the table without anyone losing a finger or setting anything on fire.

Our table came complete with crayons and paper placemats for doodling and place cards.

Aren’t my friends a good looking group of people?

Dinner started with two appetizers. Our take on Ants-On-A-Log and Peanut Butter and Jelly.

For Ants-On-A-Log, instead of celery with peanut butter and raisins we used endive with creme fraiche and figs with a drizzle of honey. The creme fraiche made them deliciously refreshing and the sweetness of the honey offset the slight bitterness of the endive.

Our take on Peanut Butter and Jelly used almond butter and strawberry preserves on ciabatta, toasted on panini press. I ate a peanut butter sandwich for lunch everyday growing up. If only my sandwich was as tasty as this! (Well, I’d probably still get sick of it, but man, this was so good!)

We quickly moved onto the main course: Macaroni and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets.

Our macaroni and cheese was upgraded with lobster, gruyere and sharp cheddar cheese, and is probably the most decadent dish I have ever made. Our mac and cheese was bursting with lobster meat thanks to the fish man at Eastern Market.

Instead of tradition chicken nuggets, we classed it up by coating strips of chicken breast with a sesame-panko breading and serving it with a mango chutney. The mango chutney was sweet and spicy and really made the dish.

Dessert was ice cream sundaes.

The ice cream was, ahem, a little more adult. Grand Marnier chocolate chunk ice cream topped with a slightly orange, bittersweet chocolate sauce and whipped cream capped off a decadent meal.

It was an amazing evening full of laughter, good company, delicious food, (Melissa REALLY liked that ice cream. Please notice the bowl in the above picture.) and maybe a little too much Third Eye Blind. Perhaps growing up isn’t that bad.

Recipes

Ants-On-A-Log (Endive with Creme Fraiche and Figs)

• Endive
• Creme Fraiche
• Mission Figs
• Honey

Rinse and separate the leaves the endive. Dollop a tablespoon of creme fraiche into each endive leaf.

Cut up the figs into small, quarter inch cubes and line them up on the endives like, well, ants on a log. Drizzle with a little bit of honey. You can microwave the honey for a little bit to make it easier to drizzle.

Peanut Butter and Jelly (Almond Butter and Preserves on Ciabatta)

• Ciabatta Loaf
• Almond Butter
• Strawberry Preserves
• Butter

Slice the ciabatta into 1/4″ thick slices. Generously spread almond butter and preserves between the two pieces of bread.

Lightly brush melted butter on each side of the sandwich before putting in a panini press. Leave in the press until toasted. Slice into bite sized pieces.

Macaroni and Cheese (Lobster Macaroni and Cheese)

adapted from Ina Garten

• 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
• A bit of vegetable oil
• 1 lb macaroni (something ridged that will hold sauce well )
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 12 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
• 8 oz extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 ½ lbs fresh lobster meat chopped into bite-size pieces (we used a mixture of tail, claw, and knuckle meat – because all tail meat is crazy expensive)
• 1 ½ c Panko bread crumbs

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour about a tbsp of vegetable oil into a pot of boiling salted water. Cook macaroni according to directions on box. We drained the pasta when it was relatively al dente because we don’t like our mac and cheese mushy (and the macaroni will continue to cook in the oven).

Heat the milk in a small saucepan (but make sure it doesn’t boil). At the same time, melt 6 tbsp of butter in a large pot. Add the flour to the butter, and whisk for about 2 minutes. Then, slowly add the milk to the flour and butter (we added it 1-2 ladle-fulls at a time – whisking after each addition to eliminate lumps. The original recipe said that this step would take about a minute, but it took us about 7 minutes to successfully add in all the milk and eliminate all the lumps of flour).

Take the pot off the heat, and add the cheeses, 1 tbsp salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Whisk until smooth. Add the macaroni and lobster to the cheese sauce. Mix gently (so as not to mush up all the lobster). Pour the mixture into a baking dish.

Melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter and mix with the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over top of the lobster mac and cheese. Bake 35-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Chicken Nuggets (Sesame-Panko Breaded Chicken with Mango Chutney)

Chicken Tenders

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
• 4 cups panko breading
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• salt
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs

Mango Chutney

adapted from Alton Brown

• 2 lbs of mango fruit (about 4 whole mangoes)
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp chile flakes
• 2 1/2 cups red onion, medium dice
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
• 1 cup red bell pepper, small dice
• 8 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
• 3 oz apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 cup raisins or golden raisins

To make the chicken tenders:

Preheat the oven to 425º.

Measure the flour into a bowl. In a separate bowl, wisk the eggs. Combine the panko breading, sesame seeds, garlic powder, and salt in a third container.

Dredge the pieces of chicken in the flour.

Coat with egg.

Finally, cover the chicken in the sesame-panko breading. Place the chicken tenders on greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

To make the mango chutney:

Cube the mango and be sure to have all of your other ingredients prepared.

In a medium sized bowl, measure out the pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and curry powder and wisk until combined.

In a large saute pan, heat the oil and the chili flakes. Don’t burn the chili flakes, just heat them enough to flavor the oil. Add the onions and sweat until soft.

Add the pepper and ginger and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the mango and saute for 1 minute.

Pour in the pineapple juice mixture and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the raisins. Makes about 4 cups (so much!) chutney.

Ice Cream Sundaes (Grand Marnier Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream with Orange Fudge Sauce)

Grand Marnier Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

adapted from Fern Glen Inn B&B

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
• 7 oz dark/semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped. We used a mixture of both dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate

Vaguely-Orange Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (this is the central flavor of the sauce, so make sure you use good-quality chocolate)
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tbsp corn syrup
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp Grand Marnier (or another liqueur or an extract)

To make the ice cream:

Combine the milk, cream, and sugar in a bowl. Wisk until the sugar is dissolved. Place this mixture and the Grand Marnier in the refrigerator for at least an hour until chilled.

Stir the the Grand Marnier into the ice cream mixture and pour into an ice cream maker and prepare according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

When the churning is almost complete, add the chocolate.

Transfer the ice cream to another container and freeze for at least 3 hours until semi-firm.

To make the chocolate sauce:

Heat the water in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan (the heavy bottom will help keep the sauce from burning). While the water is heating up, melt the chocolate and butter, either in a double-boiler or in the microwave (in increments of 15 seconds, stirring in between — if you accidentally get the chocolate too hot, it will become irretrievably grainy).

When the water starts boiling, stir in the melted chocolate mixture. Then add the sugar, corn syrup, and salt; whisk semi-vigorously (this is why you have a medium-sized saucepan) until everything comes together smoothly. Adjust the heat so the sauce is just barely boiling, and let it continue boiling for 9 minutes, stirring occasionally (make sure you get into the corners of the pot!).

Take the pot off of the heat and let the sauce cool for 15 minutes. Then stir in the liqueur or extract. Serve warm. You can store leftovers in the fridge and reheat it in the microwave.

NOTE: When left unstirred for a little while, the sauce may separate a bit. All it takes is a little vigorous stirring to return the sauce to its glossy glory.

WHEW!

]]> http://www.simmiecakes.com/2010/06/28/foodbuzz-24x24-quarter-life-crisis/feed/ 7 http://www.simmiecakes.com/2010/06/28/foodbuzz-24x24-quarter-life-crisis/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Simmiecakes/~3/Bl5M93wPRwE/ http://www.simmiecakes.com/2010/06/26/fun-things-are-happening/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:07:14 +0000 Simmie http://www.simmiecakes.com/?p=1683

Perhaps the whole chair thing was a bit of letdown for you. Well, I promise this is actually exciting. Check back tomorrow and I’ll give you the full scoop. I’m excited!

I finally got a new desk chair.

What? You don’t think that qualifies as a giant, unbelievable, exciting, major life event? But look at it! It has wheels! And arm rests! And padding!

Still no?

Ok, well, let me show you what I have been sitting on for the past six years:

And this is the upgraded version. For most of college it was just a metal folding chair.

I have no good reason for sitting in that chair for so long except pure laziness. I’m kind of afraid my new plush chair is going to lead to even more laziness. How many more episodes of Mad Men do I have to watch?

I really wish I could grow things. I have somehow managed to defy the laws of nature and genetics and have inherited The Jackster’s (non)ability to grow…anything. I mean, I’ve killed bamboo! I’m pretty sure all you have to do to keep bamboo alive is give it water every two weeks or so. And somehow I’ve even failed at that. My poor bamboo is now just one pathetic, withering stalk, sadly hanging on for dear life having outlasted it’s less robust comrades. I once broke an orchid in half taking it out of the plastic container protecting the flower. Plants do not like me.

Lucky for me, rarely does anyone ask me to take care of plants for them. I believe I was once asked to take care of a basil plant and I think we can all guess how that turned out. Warning: do not ask me to take care of plants for you if you actually want to have a living plant when you return.

I have a bit more luck with flowers that are…well…not actually alive. This garden cake was for a first birthday and its myriad of flowers and adorable animals is definitely more my garden style. I only wish I could have actual plants this cheery and fun (and alive), but for now I’ll stick to the cake versions. I feel like they can’t help but put a smile on your face!