ALL ABOUT THE FOOD

So, my friend Erin just left this morning after a week-long visit (she was here for business and extended a bit to do some site-seeing) and now I have a little bit of time before I have to go to my ALL-DAY-LONG Saturday class (seriously, it's from 11-5:30 - who does that?), so I decided to give a quick update. I'll post about some of the other things, but just wanted to let you know about one of the greatest places to eat lunch if you are on the Mall. The National Museum of the American Indian. Yup, you heard me. They have a great cafeteria where you can get Native American food from various regions of the Americas. Even gluten-free! It was delicious. I got this great masa cake with black beans, peppers, and some kind of cheese sauce all over it. SOOOOOOOOO good. Erin got some kind of lobster cakes (bleh) that she said was good and some fry bread with a blueberry syrup. If you are in town, you should definitely make your way there!

CINNATRAGEDY

Today I was going to make the best gluten-free cinnamon rolls you have ever tasted in your life. Or at least that's what the blog said. I want to preface this with the fact that I haven't had a cinnamon roll in like 2 years. The thing is, it's so different when you know you can't have one as opposed to just not having one.

Thanks to a friend, I saw this great recipe online. I figured Sunday would be the perfect day as I have church at 8am (I know...should be illegal) and then after nap time I could get to some cinnamon roll making, particularly since it's cool enough to be baking.

I visited three different stores, that's right - 3, to get all of the supplies. This gluten-free baking thing is intense! I came home from church and as I looked at my ingredients scattered over the counter and in the pantry I came to this horrifying realization: I have no mixer.

So, cinnamon rolls, maybe we shall meet another day (hopefully before my buttermilk expires because, really, who needs buttermilk for anything else? gross!).

Sister Love

Is it normal to be jealous of your sisters when they are losing weight and you aren't? S3 has definitely been losing some weight and is looking great! Which is great for her...but sucky for me. Good thing S2 is still pregnant. haha.

Making Kisses

I remember having these giant Rice Krispie Treat kisses as a kid - so fun! I decided to make them for our office Valentine's Party on Friday. What better way to spread the love?

I love bavarian cream eclairs

So, there is a definite possibility I have said this before, but I absolutely love, love, LOVE the bavarian cream eclairs that are sold at a little bakery near my house. The thing is that lately I have been having some stomach problems and most of my eating is confined to pretty plain rice and potatoes. I don't know if it is because of that, but I have definitely started a serious craving. What I really want to know, though, is if any of you have made bavarian cream? If so, do you have a good recipe? I just love that it isn't like I'm eating an eclair full of pudding.

Oh eclair, why do you tease me so?

Confessions of a Cheesaholic

So, I've known for a long time, but am finally making a public confession: I am a cheesaholic. My first clue might have been from this evening. Arriving home late tonight, the family was finishing up dinner (we actually try to do that eating together thing now that G-pa is here). Instead of joining them for a meal of roasted chicken, berries, and bread, I snuck some items from the fridge and headed upstairs. So what did I eat for dinner? Well I am currently sitting next to some crumbs of wheat crackers as well as the remains of some Boursin, smoked gouda, and brie. It's true. My meal for the evening was cheese and crackers.

Kind of makes me think that I would have done well as a peasant in medieval times. Except for the weevils in the bread. And the whole manual labor thing. Oh, and the servitude. Oh, and....

Yummy

So, now that I'm home Nicole, Jody, Amber and I try to get together once a month at least to hang out and catch up. Although it has been more like every other month lately, we did get together last week at Color Me Mine and made some beautiful ceramics! Nicole is going to pick them up tomorrow and we have decided to get together in August to see each others' project, hang out, and eat! Out of the two food options, I am letting Jody bring the wine and I said that I would do dessert. I am thinking that this idea for Sour Cream Pound Cake with Lemon Curd, Whipped Cream and Berries from Stephmodo sounds amazing! Plus, since we have one vegetarian and one who is lactose-intolerant in the group, I think that it can be adjusted to fit all tastes (obviously it's vegetarian and then Amber can just forego the whipped cream). It just seems like a great summer dessert that is a little special for the girls.

Vegan Yumminess

Yesterday Nicole, Megan and I went here on our lunch break. It's an amazing vegan restaurant in Irvine right near the office. Wow! The sweetheart fries are absolutely amazingly wonderful! Sweet potato fries are my new favorite!

Yum

I get to eat here tonight, which I always enjoy. My favorite: the terriyaki bowl with brown rice and chicken. Although I am tempted to try the tofu. I've wanted to try it and I heard that they prepare it really well. We'll see...

Lemon Frenzy

Does anyone know where to find Meyer lemons? Hopefully somewhere in Orange County? Due to my New Year's Resolution to try new recipes, I have a couple that I would love to try but I need the elusive Meyer lemon. Am I looking at the wrong place? I did find a couple of "sweet lemons" at the local Stater Bros (after doing a grocery store search in the area). They didn't look so hot, though. I might just give in and go get them so I can try some recipes. For all that I am generally really happy to be back in CA due to immensely larger and more diverse produce sections (sorry, UT), I am wondering if I am just blind. Any suggestions short of growing them myself? (You can read more about Meyer lemons here if you are in the dark as I was).

Sprinkle Me Some

If you haven't heard of Sprinkles, let me fill you in. It is a very high-end cupcake store. Cupcake store? you say. Yes, cupcake store. By high-end I mean that you can buy a giftbox of a dozen cupcakes for $46. The original location is in Beverly Hills, but they have since expanded to 5 locations, with more coming soon. One of them is right next door in Newport. I chatted with some friends who have been to the Newport store, and though they hate to admit what they were willing to spend on a cupcake (about $3.50), they will all insist that it was worth it as it was the best cupcake they have ever tasted.

The Sprinkles store offers some amazing flavors, which you can see here. Some yummy-sounding examples are cinnamon sugar, vanilla milk chocolate, and red velvet, among others. Currently, WS carries some of the mixes. I have tried the dark chocolate, which was great, but I really want to try the peppermint chocolate, which sounds amazing. The mixes go for $14 (and are packaged beautifully). I was going to add commentary here on what people are willing to spend on cupcakes, but the sad part is that the more I am at work and tasting the samples, the more sympathetic I become. Next time you are in the area, give me a call and we can splurge outrageously on a cupcake.

WS Wisdom Tidbit #1: Turkey

Wow. Working at Williams-Sonoma has increased my cooking knowledge exponentially. It makes me want to cook all of the time. Expectedly, the topic at work today and yesterday with many customers covered most Thanksgiving foods and turkey. This year, my mom has finally agreed to brine the turkey. This technique was foreign to our family in the past. I am very excited as it is supposed to make the turkey so much more moist and flavorful. What I have really been hearing a lot about, though, are the merits of a deep fried turkey. Apparently they are amazing. I heard from more than one independent source that the families did an experiment with one deep-fried turkey and one regular turkey, and, without exception, everyone ate the deep fried turkey and loved it. I would definitely like to try a deep fried turkey sometime. As of now, though, I am very happy that we are expanding into the brined turkey sphere - we'll see how it goes.

Oh, here is a recipe for a deep fried turkey if you were curious or looking for one.