Monthly Archives: February 2011

Hotdog Sundaes

You know what the worst kind of day is? The worst kind of day is when you’re hungry after a long day of doing absolutely nothing, and you shuffle over to the fridge for sustenance only to realize that your leftovers are unappetizing, you’re not in the mood for pasta, and everything else that is cook-able is iced over in the freezer. Big time bummer. So what can you do? Order out? A viable option, but that can get expensive. Go grocery shopping? No way, that would totally defeat the purpose of your lazy do-nothing day. Plus, it’s cold out right now. That leaves you with option #3: rummage through your fridge/pantry, grab anything that catches your eye, throw it all together, and...

So last week one of my interns told me that if I could successfully make tiramisu and post about it, his wife would officially start following/reading my blog. Well! I’m never one to turn down new readership, so….challenge accepted. If I had known how difficult it would be to track down all the ingredients for tiramisu, I probably wouldn’t have been quite so enthusiastic about accepting the challenge. I had to hit up to two different Safeways before I managed to get my hands on marscapone cheese, and then neither store had ladyfingers. In fact, none of the store employees had even heard of ladyfingers. “Lady Bingers?” one guy repeated in confusion. “No. Lady FINGERS. They’re cookies that look like fingers? No? Nevermind.” In...

Last night I was seized with the most irresistible urge to bake something. But what to bake? Nothing chocolate. I’m sick of chocolate, if you can believe it. Maybe a pie? Nah, too much work — no pre-made pie crusts in the freezer, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to start rolling out my own crust at 9pm on a Wednesday. Then I remembered that Dan had been talking earlier in the day about his love of apple turnovers and sugary apple filling. Apple cheesecake cupcakes are topped with something similar to apple pie filling… The first time I made this recipe was 2 or 3 years ago, the summer of my 1L year. I was working at the FDA in Rockville, MD,...

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody! Hope you all have someone nice to share it with, and if not, hopefully you have a ton of delicious chocolate treats on hand for immediate consumption. That’s the only reason anyone celebrates Valentine’s Day, right? An excuse to go on an all-out, gluttonous chocolate binge? Yes? Maybe it’s just me. Anyway, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I wanted to make for my Valentine’s post. Something chocolate-y, obviously, but beyond that there were too many possibilities. Chocolate truffles? Maybe. Molten lava cake? Mmmmm. Chocolate covered strawberries? Decadent and healthy-ish, and possibly an aphrodisiac! But at the end of the day I settled on homemade Hostess cupcakes. There’s something about reproducing homemade versions of popular commercial brand foods...

Wonton Cups with Spinach and Mushroom Ricotta Filling

Happy Superbowl Sunday, everyone! And…happy 1 year anniversary to my blog! To celebrate both momentous occasions, I spent the better part of the afternoon cooking: crab quesidillas, pizza dip, fresh guacamole, and…wonton cups with spinach and mushroom filling. Why wonton cups? Well, I got really into cooking-themed books last year, and these cups were mentioned in passing in one of my books. There, the cups were filled with tuna tartare, but I had a feeling the people coming to my Superbowl party weren’t going to be thrilled with raw fish, so I went with something a little tamer. Who knew wonton wrappers were so versatile? I’d only ever used them to make wontons and crab rangoons, but they’re actually quite effective as Tostito-esque scoops....

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! All last week I had grand plans to make jiao zi (dumplings) and dou sha bao (steamed buns with red bean paste) and other Chinese goodies, but somehow I never got around to it. Fortunately, the New Year is supposed to be celebrated for 15 days, so I’ve still got plenty of time to make everything. In the meantime, I just had to satisfy my craving for kimchi fried rice. My friend Grace posted a picture of her husband cooking it for a midnight snack a few days ago, and I’ve had kimchi on the brain ever since. It’s just so pungent and tangy and delicious! So good as a side, but possibly even better in fried-rice form. It’s definitely...

Monthly Archives: February 2011

Hotdog Sundaes

Tiramisu

Apple Cheesecake Cupcakes

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

Wonton Cups with Spinach and Mushroom Ricotta Filling

Kimchi Bokumbop (Kimchi Fried Rice)

Blogs I Love

Cool Sites