Bananas and Kittens
Oops, I did it again. I completely failed to post for about a month…In my defense, I have a pretty good excuse: I moved on June 22. Let me make it up to you anyway, with this delicious banana macadamia bread.
CAKEITECTURE for Gabe & Catherine (Part 1)
Guys, I made another wedding cake! After starting out with a cute, retro 3-tier for Susan in April…for the next wedding I baked for, over Memorial Day, things got a little crazy. My dear friend Gabe and his bride Catherine were looking for creative “cakeitecture” – well, they got this:
Lavender Lemon Bars
This Saturday I participated in the blogger-organized NYC Bake Sale to support No Kid Hungry – a charity organization dedicated to eradication of child hunger. I’ve been feeling spring-tastic, so I decided to get fresh and floral with some lemon lavender bars. And to package them in ridiculous pastel-colored boxes with teacup cutout windows.
Brides, Cake, and Bride’s Cake
So, I made a wedding cake this weekend. It was my present to a dear friend from law school who was putting together a small, DIY wedding. She and her fiance (now husband!!) did an absolutely stunning job decorating and self-catering out of their Brooklyn apartment; they came up with a million beautiful touches – from delicious pre-mixed cocktails inspired by the bride and the groom to bunting strung across the living room from the vintage chandelier. The whole event, from invites to tablecloths, was done in shades of teal and gold, and I tried to incorporate these colors in the cake by using a light teal frosting (perhaps a little reminiscent of certain blue boxes) and gold-dusted gardenias and jonquils. In any event, the bride was happy and we all had a grand old time.
Coppa Cabana, Part II
Breaking news! A month later, and my coppa is done! And it is delicious! A little heavy on the cloves, but deeply flavorful, gorgeously marbled, and perfectly textured. Now how to get rid of a whole stick of meat?
Duck Turnovers
Looking for a last minute dish for your Mad Men party? Then this is not for you; get some shrimp cocktail and make up for it with a fabulous dress. If you want an utterly amazing 1960s dish worth prepping in advance for future Mad Men parties – or for life in general – read on and you will find amazing pastry secrets, and a recipe (for duck turnovers) in which to use them.
“Easter-Over” Jewtalian Brunch
This year, as they have for the past few, Easter and Passover overlapped. I actually grew up celebrating Easter more than Passover; my Dad always took me through the Exodus story, but never got around to staging a full-on seder – egg hunt and chocolate bunnies, however, were an annual occurrence. So, I decided to continue my Easter tradition, and to look back to my Italian roots to do so. I made a classic Neapolitan Easter dish – a ricotta pie called a pastiera – and then decided to give a nod to Passover as well by throwing together a matzo kugel. And what did I do with all this food? Brunch, of course!
