Most people like to have people plan parties on their behalf. I like to plan parties for myself. I love all the work that goes into it... picking a menu, deciding on a color theme, creating invitations, etc. It all makes me feel really "grown-up" since parties for me now tend to be more than chips and dip with a game of musical chairs. However, my abode during grad school has been small and not conducive to multiple people hanging out. My good friends Shanwich (holla!) recently allowed me to use their house and backyard as the location of my graduation picnic. Here is an overview of the menu:

Greek Burgers (a specialty of my friend and house owner so I don't have the secret recipe)
Grilled Corn w/ compound butter
Gazpacho Shooters
Couscous Salad
Pasta Salad
Chips and Dip (it's a classic!)
Mojito Cupcakes
PB & J Cupcakes
Glittery Lemon Cookies

Also using the ONE concept I think Sandra Lee gets right we had a signature cocktail- the Laura Palmer. The Laura Palmer is like an Arnold Palmer but there's booze in it. Now, I know a lot of people are all about the sweet tea flavored vodka but I don't drink vodka. This drink allowed me to have that same concept with an alcohol that doesn't bring back bad memories of "jungle juice." To make this tasty beverage you steep 4 bags of black tea in a fifth of gin (your brand of choice) for 3 days. Then you mix the tea flavored gin 1 to 1 with lemonade. I made the lemonade from scratch b/c I love my friends that much but you can also use lemon juice reconstituted.

Lastly, there were also goodie bags b/c I like to be that involved in party planing. Using a tutorial I picked up online I was able to transform these things:

Into these:


Here are some other pictures from said picnic!






There are other pictures from the festivities but as I did not ask people to sign a waiver upon entering I feel it is unlawful to use them without a legal contract saying it's okay to show their faces. Until next time folks!

Hola! This griot is officially done with her graduate program. I am so excited... and so scared! (#Savedbythebellmemories) I just made up that hash tag I think. But as that line is from the BEST SBTB episode ever (EVER!) it was totally worth it. How did I commemorate my accomplishment? I baked of course! A few weekends ago I spent some time out to hang with the family. Before leaving I made a coffee cake with chocolate struesel to share with my peeps. I also bought some challah (holla!) to make awesome French toast (which my grandpa referred to as "Freedom Toast" ha!) for breakfast. But, I am not a morning person and thus not with it enough to take pics in the AM so alls you gets is a foto-montage of the cake making process. You can't always get what you want... but sometimes you get what you get.






Chocolate filling mix (bittersweet chocolate, pecans, brown sugar and sugar) about to get chopped!










Struesel ingredients (pecans not shown)


















Struesel all mixed up.














Ingredient of the moment: I bought this butter-vanilla emulsion at the store. I wanted this cake to have extra buttery flavor.


















Pre-layering of awesome ingredients.
















Coffee cake with chocolate struesel!







We had enough "left over" that people were able to take some home for dessert after dinner on Sunday!

Hey ya'll. So it seems as if I haven't lived up to my resolution to bake one thing each week. But. I have done some baking recently and I've got two kitschen experiments for you. A few weeks ago a friend came to visit and Devin (my friend from Real Good Food) and I both got to get busy in the kitchen. Devin is a savory kind of guy so he made dinner. Since no dinner is complete without dessert I brought cake! There was a multi-layer cake recipe I'd been wanting to try but didn't have anyone to share it with so this visit and friendly dinner was prime opportunity. Full disclosure... the cake is supposed to be 8 layers but my free hand layer cutting wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped so in the end mine had only 7 layers. It was still HUGE though! Also I'd like to say a many thanks for my buddy Mosaic Geek for letting me borrow her cake pans. I literally couldn't have done it without you!

What's the other story morning glory? Well it's the end of term and I've got presentations to do for final projects. I hate PowerPoint slideshows- I feel like they have become the basic minimum for any academic presentation but in reality they just invite people to tune out. Thus, I like to give my classmates a little edible incentive to make sure they're energized and paying attention. So, I made some cupcakes! I pulled out an old recipe I have for Mexican chocolate cupcakes because it's a small batch recipe. Believe it or not but sometimes you can't even GIVE homemade cupcakes away and I cannot eat them all! So I used this butter based recipe instead of my usual vegan chocolate cake batter. And because it was Mexican chocolate flavor I decided to use a mini-churro as garnish.

This is what happens when you're too cheap to buy magazine subscriptions and thus are forced to browse through Bon Appetit at the library... You come across a recipe for a cranberry nut "pound" cake with an espresso glaze and want to back it. Then your grandpa asks you what you're baking and skools you that your recipe is not a pound cake recipe b/c "pound cakes have a pound of each ingredient which is why they're called POUND cakes." (Note this is not a direct quote as my PaPa is not that directly sarcastic but what he did actually say implied such sarcasm. I think he might have even chuckled and then said, "I don't know..." which is his catch all phrase for when he sees something he thinks is odd/doesn't agree with). Well, I made the "pound" cake anyways and I even bought four new mini-loaf pans to bake it in so I could give the gift of goodness away.

My grandpa ended up eating 2- so I guess he liked it. I saved one for myself and I sent the last one to my friend in D.C. She regularly let's me crash at her abode when I'm in town for personal reasons and it is always awesome b/c she's not afraid of good food + beer combos.

Yes! I promised to bring you a savory kitchen adventure and by George I've done it! This week was spring break for my mid-western university (I know, so early. Especially considering there's still snow on the ground.) so I had some free time. And by free time I mean... time to catch up on some reading from classes, have some minor panic attacks about how close the end of term is and... end up in the kitchen to sooth my soul (and tummy). Also b/c I was kinda sorta in almost full freak out mode I went to my safe space... my mom's house! Nothin' like a little time at the homestead to rejuvenate the mind. I ended up making a faux pot pie recipe from my fave celebrity cook Rachael Ray! I say faux b/c it uses puff pastry as the crust and not actual pie dough. I'd make the dish again but I'd definitely use pie dough as I feel it has the texture I prefer.

What I really like about this recipe is you can make the chowder base and freeze the pre-baked pot pies for a lazy day. To be more specific... you would fill the ramekins/mini-baking tins and seal the puff pastry/pie crust dough onto the vessel with an egg wash. Then you freeze the whole thing and pull it out and bake it to a nice golden brown when you're having just one of those days and trying not to take it personal.

Ok crafters, fellow bakers, and hobbyist alike. It's February which for most people means it's Valentine's day but for me it's all about my birthday. I recently got back from an awesome international vacation so this month (although short) has been very busy. Before jumpin' on a jet plane (maybe it wasn't technically a jet?) I did do a little baking to share the love . Specifically I sent my youngest niece and nephews a first class package of love. And no it's wasn't a dick in a box (SNL references rock!). What else says your tia loves you than the fact that she spent the night before her birthday trip baking and packaging your valentine gift? NOTHING!!!!

In my mind a wee box calls for wee treats so I decided to use my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe but make it miniature by baking the cookies in my mini-muffin tins. Also FYI you can also use your waffle to make quick cookies if you have some frozen cookie dough left over once you get back from your international vacation. Not that I did that... not at all.

So this is just a quick post b/c I'm recovering from my trip and trying to get back into the swing of my normal life. I'm going to try to post about something savory next week... I made some lentil soup and some chili a while back but didn't think about getting out my camera during the process. Mostly I was thinking about finishing so the food could get in my belly.

Happy crafting/baking/art making.

Hey yo! So, in an effort to cook more savory things and to expand the diversity of my diet I joined a little food sharing cooperative. My friend Devin, who also likes to cook and has an interest in bid'niss, started a google group which has grown into something more. It's called Real Good Food and basically it helps connect local cooks. If you make a lot of soup, tamales, or curry you can write up a post and swap it with another member's samosas, stew, or pot roast. You can agree to an immediate sway or to something in the future. It's a great way for a single gal like me to NOT have to eat enchiladas all week just because they can only be made by the pan full. Since most of members' interaction is virtual Devin organized a meet and greet so people could chat and talk about the future of the group. In order to have some nosh Devin asked if I would help him make cupcakes.... a favorite past time of mine and who doesn't like sweets?! Ornery people that's who! So this past Saturday Devin and I got together and made some magic in the kitchen. As you all know, I loves the chocolate. Devin had been wanting to use some AWESOME sweet chili powder he picked up on a trip to Mexico this past summer. We put the two together for some sweet heat cupcakes.

Now, let's see if Devin actually reads this and then petitions to have that last picture of him removed!

P.S. If you want to know more about Real Good Food check out the website.