oh yeah

I totally forgot how great early breakfast can be. Apples and peanut butter toast was like the coziest meal ever. I mean... if that is possible? Maybe I mean some thing more like comfortable. I don't know! It just made me want to snuggle and wear flannel.

Mostly, let's all thank the dear lord jesus for photobooth. Not having a working camera nor a kitchen I like to be in is really putting me on the down side. My fingers and taste buds just feel like working, but they can't! How frustrating!

pizza mac n' cheese

Ah, a favorite of every one who has ever rested their lips upon a fork that was blessed by this meal. What a combination... pizza and mac n' cheese. No little kid or adult can deny this. It's too easy and too good to be true.

I'm entirely too satisfied with that photograph I took. It's so delicious; mmm.

Ingredients needed:
provolone
mozzerella
jar of spaghetti sauce
jar of cheese sauce
pepperoni
elbows macaroni

(I will be honest, this time I used a jar of cheese sauce... and it was so good).

It's seriously simple! Make very al dente elbows, mix cheese sauce, and assemble in a shallow baking dish. Put macaroni in the dish. Along the sides of the pan, place pepperoni as a mock for a crust. Put some spaghetti sauce on top of pasta, maybe some more pepperoni. And then on top of the sauce... obviously all the cheese you want. Bake 350 degrees; 20 minutes covered, ten uncovered.

So I am back in New York, and I forgot to steal Robert's camera. Thus... I have no camera, a jinx in my oven, and a shitty time. Pity me! I'll try and update as much as I can, but I swear in two weeks I'll be back in action in a cozy home and with my love.

the perfect cupcake

My birthday was last Thursday, and I was blessed to make my own birthday cupcakes. Any baker knows that it can be so hard to get that absolute perfect cupcake. That one that is moist, light, fluffy, but if you take too big of a bite you need a glass of milk kind of cupcake. It happened, and it was triumphant.

Vanilla Cupcakes (courtesy of http://www.joyofbaking.com/VanillaCupcakes.html):

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

- cream butter & sugar
- add egg one by one
- alternate wet & dry (three parts)
- bake for 18 minutes on 350 degrees


However, I didn't make a normal buttercream and instead my favorite kitchen boredom creation.

Coffee Cream Cheese Icing:
1 pkg cream cheese
3 tbsp butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbl coffee grounds

- paddle cream cheese and butter together until very creamy
- add in sugar and mix well for 5-8 minutes
- throw in every thing else

It's seriously the best icing in the world. It tastes like cream cheese with a side of sweet coffee. Tastes a little like heaven on a cupcake.

my sincerest apologies

The lack of a camera and jinx upon the kitchen at my dad's house had left me distraught; seriously. Everything I tried to make turned to shit, and that's not even an exaggeration. Fortunately I solved the mystery of our oven; it sucks. With the bitterness towards cooking at home, I got a lot of pointless stuff done and hopped onto a train. I have good things again, a usable camera, and an almost (or is) perfect kitchen.

So last night, Robert (the boyfriend) and I, cooked the most Italian dinner ever. We made my grandmother's eggplant lasagna with spinach fettuccini, and a home-made pizza (sorta). All of it was super easy, but frying eggplant, I swear, takes forever. Obviously it's worth it.

Grandma's Eggplant Lasagna:
1 whole eggplant; sliced thin
fresh (that white, milky kind) mozzarella
regular (not so milky kind) mozzarella
lots of provolone
15 oz ricotta cheese
pinches of romano
jar of tomato sauce
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk
bread crumbs
1 cup flour

So pretty much I sliced the eggplant really thin with the skin still on. Mixed together some Romano, breadcrumbs, and flour. Breaded the little beasts, and Robert fried them. With the extra egg mixture and bread crumbs, mix them together and make thick but flat circles and fry them. Bread crumb balls are a gift from heaven (and my grandma's secret love), I swear. So...

We assembled the eggplant lasagna in a deep baking dish like so:

1. eggplant (always first layer, covering all space)
2. sauce
3. ricotta (mixed with little sauce for easier spreading)
4. fresh & regular mozzarella
5. ripped up provolone
6. sprinkle of romano

-repeat until all ingredients are gone!

We baked it on 425 degrees covered for 20 minutes, and uncovered for about ten (until the cheese on top started to brown, ya know). Put pasta on once you uncover it; duh.

The pizza was almost about the same, excluding the eggplant and ricotta and use of pizza sauce instead. We were too lazy to make dough, so we bought a handy roll of Pillsbury... which, I infact, highly recommend because it is delish. Normally we'd plate all of this a bit nicer, but by the time it was done we were beyond hungry.

Robert's plate:

My plate:

And two very inpatient, hungry folks:

Be prepared for more, I don't want to spoil it all in one post.

Love yous.

Ps- I hope you all know you can click on the photographs to see them bigger!