cheers to the sun...

...because it gets butter to room temperature faster :p 

Our favorite view. I hope the dogs don't knock down the solar lights we just installed!

I think this kitchen view always makes our dishes better. It's THE little sumthin' sumthin' that makes food special,
not drool that gets mixed into my brownie batter, as some have speculated.

Rarely photographed but I love these trees. They make me feel...smaller.

The sun is one of the things I am really grateful for lately. I can go to sleep without a jacket on. I love the cool weather in the farm, don't get me wrong, but a little variation is always fun. I love how one day I need to wear a hoodie, socks, Crocs (yes, I do now), and terry cloth pants and the next, I can wear a shirt, slippers and, well, terry cloth pants still. :p 

This dude is missing his terry cloth pants but looks to be enjoying the sun too.

Even the cupcake frostings I made over the weekend are celebratory of the sunny days. As I was about to put the BEST frosting EVER on the now on-demand (mind the small audience I have here) red velvet brownies, I had to stop myself and put the spatula down. I don't know if it's the five-times-in-two-weeks-is-too-much syndrome or the general let's-get-out-of-this-before-it-becomes-a-rut panic attack, but I just wanted to put another frosting on those brownies. I like to change it up. I'm crazy like that. I'm also boring like that. However you want to judge it. Anyway, I decided to make this cream cheese frosting instead.  I know, it's the classic combo and there's a reason for it. The frosting cuts through and complements the richness of the brownies. PERFECT. I just wanted to be a bad-ass and frost it with something non-cream cheese-y. Go against convention. Be the cool, non-conformist new baker. I failed. 


Now with a bowl of the BEST frosting EVER (red velvet exception already emphasized earlier) sitting in the fridge, I decided to make the Amy Sedaris vanilla cupcakes. I wanted to make the Magnolia Bakery recipe but I had only one egg left in the pantry, so...there. A good recipe but not quite the super moist cake I was looking for. I probably overbaked it since it was darker than the picture called for BUT it had a really great egg-y taste which I loooooved. 


I divided the frosting into two and added one heaping (HEAPING) tablespoon of Nutella to one (I've been meaning to make Nutella cookies and haven't gotten around to it, so thanks to Kats for the cupcake inspiration) and smooth peanut butter to the other. VOILA. BEST frosting EVER now even BEST-er!! :) 

I know. I need to use frosting bags. I don't know if I'll ever have the energy for it though. 

There is no limit to the Nutella you can add to the frosting recipe. It is ALL goooood.

Ditto for peanut butter. Go ahead. You know you want to. 

Important note, in case the photo captions are not clear enough: add as much Nutella or peanut butter as you like. Of course, consider the consistency of the frosting as you go too. You don't want a thick blob on your cupcake that you can't handle. Whatever that limit is :p


xoxo, 
Janice

snippets of the long weekend

Okaaaaay...


So, I haven't posted in a few days and someone already noticed. :p Anyway, I was happy to see on Facebook and i-message updates that my sisters and several friends were going on cooking sprees while I was pigging out 6 hours away from home. My hubby and I went with our godparents (in marriage) R & D, to Golfito to ogle, well, buy appliances and other stuff (ooops) in the duty-free port. I won't go into the gory details of what we bought for the house and wish we could take home (yes, stand mixer, you), but I will say we had THE most amazing time and gorged on the yummiest food. :) And yes, I remain to be a dumb-dumb and forgot to take pictures during the trip, but with a new camera in hand, I promise to document our next trips better. 


After we got back, we spent the following day on a cooking and baking spree since we...ummm...like to eat? Okay, so it was so we could use up leftover ingredients that almost went bad while we were out. It's hard to not have stuff get spoiled when you're only cooking for two (with an appetite for four) and most things in the grocery are packaged for more people to consume. 


Anyway, thus banana cupcakes. They turned out a little greasier than I thought they should. But who else is to blame but me because I used an entire stick of butter instead of about 3/4 because I was too lazy to guesstimate how much to leave in the container. ANYWAY... 

Mashing bananas is good for anger management.

...and PF Chang lettuce wraps, which is the best thing to cook (after fried rice) to use up leftover food in the fridge and pantry. The sauce is to die for too! Can be used for salads, just add more lemon or vinegar if you want.Thanks to my friend Anya who is also getting domesticated over in the coast of Australia for this idea :) 

Lettuce, schmettuce. We ended up eating this with rice.

We were also having some friends over after lunch, so we made our favorites to share: red velvet brownies...

I love the dude...so I handed over the whisk after mixing. 

...and chipotle wings. I. LOVE. YOU.

Wings for the brave.

It was a super nice and sunny day and a lot of them came out to play :p

Candy is the queen of the deck.

Bright additions to any party.

Of course, also those who can have chocolate and (tons of) alcohol. 

The weekend extended to the next morning as memories (or the lack of) courtesy of four vodka cranberries kept haunting me. I thought I was going insane when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this:

How was I surprised?! We have horses. We live in a farm.

xoxo, 
Janice


P.S. My new babies just arrived. Will drool over these after my much-needed nap! 

Dear Donna and Ina - We thank you for the excess pounds.

an apology to our oven

Okay. So...I have not been shy to blame all my so-so baked creations on our 20-ish old oven. Cake not too moist? Oven was too hot. Brownies with a burnt top? Oven was dumb. And the list goes on. 

friend or foe?

I owe this oven the biggest apology given by a human to a non-living thing. I don't know how many other times this has happened in history, but as far as I'm concerned, this is the most important one. 


After giving us the best chipotle wings this side of town (I don't know how competitors there are either), and the most awesome red velvet brownies EVER (it's the first we've tasted but still...whatever... the BEST...on top of it was the best frosting EVER too), and most recently, moist and tasty chicken with olives, I should have known it was never the oven's fault. 


I. AM. AN. AIRHEAD. Let's take this in the general sense and not get into specific circumstances, eh? It boils down to me not reading recipes well enough. For example, there is a SLIGHT difference when recipes ask for degrees C or F in oven temperatures. Basic stuff like that. An average person would have known. But I ain't average. I am below that. Vertically. And otherwise. 


So I suppose, I should move on to the most recent gifts from this oven to close out this apology. I'll feature the most recent 2 which have given us so much joy, we've allotted a specific range of weight gain this month just so we can enjoy without guilt. 


First up, red velvet brownies. I don't even need to tell you more than my husband ate 6 of these before lunch. I got a text from him after Spanish class saying, "There is cheese cake no more :( sorry!!" Okay, to get this right, let me set 2 facts straight: one, they were brownies (he loved them so much they could have been called doogie-shmoo-poo and he would have eaten them anyway); and second, he didn't eat them ALL. He just ate all the contents of the first of two containers. And his justification when I called him to get an explanation: "BUT baaaaabe, you said to eat something before lunch because it wouldn't be until 130pm!!" 

moist inside with a delicious layer of crunch on top

oh yes, those are squiggly frostings. because I'm fancy like DAT. but i later decided to squish down all of them.

I would marry this brownie if I weren't already taken.

I married the most awesome dude. 


Sooooo...the reason lunch would not be until 130pm that day was because I made chicken with olives via a recipe by Pioneer Woman. The lady knows her dark meat is all I can say. This is a slightly more complex "prep and forget-about-it" meal. I still managed to lay down on the couch with my husband while the chicken was in the oven. So, I say it counts under this category. I'm trying to rack up a couple of these easy meals to make so I can still cook when I start working. I imagine our weekdays to be: get home, prep ingredients, stick it in the oven or leave on the stove, shower or email (ahem), take it out, eat, wash dishes, eat dessert, brush teeth, sneak another dessert, brush teeth, pass out with a cookie in one hand. PERFECT. 

chicken thigh heaven

thanks for being so good. 

In other news, we just survived our first domestic disaster. I found it weird that there were flies around the kitchen. So we lit up candles (his 30th birthday ones) and put them on top of...an egg carton. My idea. OF COURSE. Soon enough, the whole thing lit on fire. Mr. G threw it out on the deck steps, managing to drop some burning bits of egg and carton on the couch and floor. Ergo...

and this is not even the worst burnt bit on the couch

this used to be my favorite pillow

I love how together, Mr. G and I manage to get into these comedic episodes. Anyway, time to get some more eggs! :)


xoxo,
Janice