This weekend.

This weekend I plan to make English muffins, read until my eyes see double, and buy myself a purse for Spring. I want to write letters and sew, paint the chairs on the porch, and drink sweet tea. I want to dip the scones I made this morning into hot coffee, and schmooze someone (anyone!) into giving me a massage.

Welcome, weekend. I've missed you.

Reasons to celebrate.

I'm not going to lie; I couldn't care any less for football, the Super Bowl, TV ads, or Madonna. (OK, I have a soft spot for The Immaculate Collection, but beyond that, meh.) What I do love, however: any reason to bake, oatmeal raisin cookies (specifically, these), buffalo wings (specifically, these), and Mike, who is a giant Giants fan (you're welcome). We watched the game in a studio apartment full of Pats fans, so luckily Mike has good sportsmanship and disappeared to the bathroom to celebrate. When we got in the car to go home afterward, he apologized in advance for yelling, "GMEN! Yuppp!!" It was pretty adorable. 

When we got home he asked me to take a picture of him smiling in his Giants Snuggie. I must say, I'm warming up to this whole football thing. 

The sun and shadows.

It's another one of those Mondays where I'm swamped with work, even after coming in an hour early. I'm happy to say that I stayed on my goal of hanging out with Jim every other day, leaving Mike in bed to go running at 9 AM. Let me tell you what, it's so much more satisfying lounging around on a Sunday after you've run(/walked) three miles. And indulging on slow cooker pulled chicken sandwiches for dinner? Even better.

I went on a baking craze yesterday, whipping up fresh blueberry muffins and banana bread, so now my apartment is a dangerous area of leftover strawberry shortcake fixins, black bean brownies, banana bread, and blueberry muffins. Please. Somebody help me.

This weekend Mike and I went to the big Goodwill in Davis Square where I scored this sweet picnic-basket-turned-yarn-holder-with-built-in-needle-pockets along with some great dresses. Two of them I could wear off the rack (one of which I'm wearing right now) and two of them I plan to alter into awesomeness. Stay posted on the progress of those. I don't know if it always looks like this and I'm just usually still in my apartment getting ready, but the sun and shadows this morning were beautiful. See doesn't-do-it-justice-insta-above.

(365 Chances) #9: Cinnamon Rolls

I made these a couple weeks ago for a brunch. Overnight, the number of people coming to the brunch went from about 8 to about 15. I had planned to make these cinnamon rolls, then when we realized so many people were coming, I cooked them up early and the original six of us were in food/sugar comas by the time everyone else arrived. It's definitely worth the work, but I wouldn't suggest making this more than once a year. I'm planning to make it a Christmas tradition. 

PS -- If you came over from Adventures of Newlyweds, say hi! 

This recipe is from The Weekend Baker.

You'll need

Dough:

1 c milk

8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

3 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1/3 c granulated sugar

1 large egg

Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/3 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 tb unsalted butter, melted

Glaze: (courtesy of Paula Deen)
4 tbsp butter
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 to 6 tbsp hot water

Do this

In a small saucepan, combine the milk and the butter. Stir constantly over medium heat until the butter melts. 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.

Check the temperature of the milk mixture. It'll need to be between 115 and 125 degrees to active the yeast. Add the warm liquid and the egg to the flour and stir with the wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Dump the dough onto a floured surface.

Knead the dough with your hands. Keep kneading for about 10 minutes, and shape the dough into a ball. Lightly grease the bowl and put the dough back in it. Cover securely with plastic wrap, and let stand for about 45 to 55 minutes until doubled in size. Combine the ingredients for the cinnamon filling, except for the butter, and set aside.

Turn the dough onto a clean surface and roll out into a 12x17 inch rectangle. Pour the melted butter onto the dough and spread the cinnamon filling over that. Roll it up! Then slice one inch thick slices and place into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise about 1 1/2 times their original size, or about 40 minutes. 

Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Prepare the glaze while the rolls are baking. When the rolls are finished baking, smother them in that amazing, amazing stuff.

Then eat them before everyone arrives! 

On summer heat.

"I can see the sun, but even if I cannot see the sun, I know that it exists. And to know that the sun is there -- that is living." Fydor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Except today, and for the past several days, I can see the sun. I can feel it in the mornings before I am fully awake. The fan on full blast cannot keep up with the sweat my skin produces. I read about Mississippi in an oppressive time and an oppressive heat while I bake homemade Oreos in the kitchen. I imagine I live in a time before air conditioners, before escaping to a cool restaurant was an option, before frozen pizzas from Trader Joe's would have been my dinner. I imagine every summer night feeling like it does right now, two drinks - water and wine, and cookies cooling on the counter. I prop open the window ushering in the most breeze with a block of wood whose origins are a mystery. All I know is, wherever that wood came from, I am so glad it is here. I close my eyes against the breeze, however slight, before I must open the oven to retrieve the cookies before they burn. "If you can smell whatever's in the oven and it smells good, means it's about to burn," a woman in my family once told me.

In which I bake a cake.

Wow, what a beautiful day. I woke up at 6:30 when Mike left for work, threw on some clothes, and walked down to the Radical Roaster, their local coffeeshop. I had an English muffin with jam and a latte. I did a little reading, some conversation eavesdropping (a writer's job!), and a bit of writing. It felt so nice to wake up early and have a bit of my own day before work began. I came back around 8, took a shower, and now I'm working from Mike's home for the second day in a row. I must admit, I get a little antsy working from home so much. It's been such a blessing, having this option to come visit and work from here without worrying about missing work or not seeing each other very much. But when I work from home so much and am hardly in the office, I get this weird paranoia that I'm going to get fired. Old habits die hard, I suppose. I just need to trust that I am doing all of my work well, and that my boss would let me know if I was slipping or not performing up to par.

Today is Twinkie cake day! It's in the oven right now, and I'm excited to continue the process. First step? Beat four egg whites, and since Mike doesn't have a beater, I had to use the good old by-hand method. I thought I was going to go insane, beating egg whites until they were firm by hand. Do not try this at home. Oh well, that boy knows I love him and now, so does my right forearm. Phew!

I tweaked a recipe I found online, so if you ever need to make a larger-than-life Twinkie ice cream cake, here you go!

What You'll Need

• A hand or stand mixer, or a really strong arm
• 4 egg whites
• 16 oz pound cake mix
• 2/3 cup water
• Whipped vanilla/white frosting
• Vanilla ice cream, softened
• Bread pan (roughly in the shape of a real Twinkie)

First is the hard part (silver lining: It's all easy from there!): Beat four egg whites until firm. They will roughly resemble whipped cream. This is what mine looked like halfway through:

Then beat the egg whites, cake mix, and water for about 2 minutes on medium speed (or until your arm falls off). Pour into greased Twinkie-shaped pan. Then stare at it while it bakes (for about 25 - 30 minutes). [This post was getting a little photo-heavy, so scroll down for a slideshow of the process.]

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut the cake longways in half, like you're going to make a sandwich out of it. Hollow the cake out, leaving a good inch of cake on each side of the hollow area to make sure the ice cream mixture does not leak through.

In another bowl, mix together several scoops of ice cream, two tablespoons of frosting, and a few good chunks of the cake bits you just hollowed out. This part is mixed according to taste. Get creative and add candy pieces, sprinkles, or chocolate! Since I'm going for a Twinkie-esque experience, I kept it simple. Once the mixture is combined, pour it into the hollow areas of your cake. I then lined the outer edge of the cake with frosting to work as glue when I placed the top back on. Cover the cake in plastic wrap and put in the freezer to set!

Tonight, I plan to add a little more frosting to the top, pop in a few candles and put some strawberries around the edge of plate. I cannot wait.

What weird birthday cakes have you seen/made lately?

(Pictures after the jump.)

Twinkies + Ice Cream = My Weekend

This weekend is my boyfriend's birthday. For some reason, whenever it's someone I love's birthday, I feel it's my responsibility to make a cake. And since this is the first time I've ever had a significant someone on the day commemorating their birth, I gotta make this one good.

My first major undertaking for a kick-ass birthday cake was my good friend Crunchy's (short for Crunch Granola, a loving nickname) 21st birthday. She loves chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches with all of her tree-hugging heart, and so I made her one. A huge one, which we hacked away at for a good week or so after her party.

And so, for Mike's birthday, I plan to make another overly-large ice cream cake except in imitation of his favorite ice cream: Herrell's Twinkie ice cream.

Please, enjoy my paint skills.

So, my major undertaking for this week (hopefully Friday while he's at work), is to make a larger-than-life Twinkie stuffed with vanilla ice cream that has frosting and cake bits mixed in.

Wish me luck, and keep an eye out for pictures of the process/finished product on Friday! I'll take tips or suggestions in the comments section or on Twitter, please!

What are your most memorable birthday cakes or celebrations?