St. Paddy's Day 2012

Timmy and I just realized that this was our FIFTH St. Patrick's Day together. Wow. It was definitely our most laid back holiday, in that I spent a lot of the day working, and I had half a beer total, all day, but it was still pretty great. For the third year in a row, Tim cooked for me, and he really hit his stride this year.

Timmy prepping the carrots

Chef Timmy was in charge of the corned beef that he made in the crock pot with some delicious carrots and cabbage. And, to make something extra special, we also had butter potatoes! Yummm.

The beef, carrots, and cabbage hot out of the pan (hence the dreamy fuzziness from the steam)

 I was in charge of everything else, so I made Kale chips as a snack. I was surprised at how much Tim liked them, and I can't wait to make them again for us. They are possibly the easiest snack in the world to make--- take kale leaves, rip into bite sized pieces, toss with 1 tsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake on a sheet for 20-30 minutes at 300. (I really love them with seasoning blends from Penzey's like Turkish seasoning, or Mural of Flavor as well.)

I also made a Vegan Guinness Cake with a chocolate whiskey glaze. Because we ate so much corned beef, I only ate about three bites of the whole cake, but it was pretty darn tasty! Since the cake was vegan, it was nice to have the little extra something that the Guinness offered.

Also, just like last year, I baked Irish Soda Bread. It was extra delicious piled high with corned beef and cabbage. I also ate it the next morning toasted with butter and honey. I love how the sweetness of the raisins is counteracted by the savory caraway seeds, and this bread is the perfect texture. Plus it is so easy and requires no kneading or rising time, and it is pretty darn gorgeous.

I think my food coma lasted about three days, but it was definitely worth it. Happy St. Paddy's to all!

the whole spread

My adorable "Kiss me I'm Iowish" tee. :)

chocolate nanner bread

I have made this before and it was just as delicious this time. The perfect way to distract myself from the fact that my honey was stuck in a hurricane all weekend. It is quite possibly the best banana bread I've ever had, not just because it's chocolate or the fact that it's socially acceptable to eat it for breakfast even though tastes like cake, but because the consistency is to-die-for. Oh, and there's no butter in it so I trick myself into thinking it's "healthy!"

http://www.evilshenanigans.com/2011/03/chocolate-banana-bread/

There are no photos because I ate it too fast. :)

Cherry Peach Upside Down Cake

What do you get when you have two overripe peaches, a pint of cherries on the brink of moldiness,  and a box of yellow cake mix? A cherry peach upside down cake! Or maybe I'll call it something more pretentious like a "stone fruit inverted confection" to equalize the whole "cake mix" thing....

Anywho-- this baby was good. Despite using summer ingredients, the cake is spicy and almost fruit-cakey. It was super yummy and I am taking the rest of it to work to share (because I do not need to eat a whole cake! It's still swimsuit season for goodness sake!)

First, I melted 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar in the bottom of a 9 inch round springform pan. Then, I sprinkled in a tsp of nutmeg (might be a little heavy, but I loooove nutmeg) and a dash of cinnamon and my fruit which was all sliced up. I tossed it around so it was all coated in a caramel-y goodness. Then, I poured the cake mix over the top and baked for 45 minutes.

Flipped it over and voila! The ooey-gooey caramel on top leaves the cake glistening and moist and the aroma of fruit and nutmeg filled the air. YUM. This would be heaven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Easy peasy, and so yummy you will forget it came out of a box.

Chocolate Cupcakes

**Note, I am two weeks behind in blogging, so this post is OLD.

I've been in the mood to bake like crazy lately. I think it was the birthday that got me craving chocolate cake. But more than anything, I just wanted to share goodies with friends at work. Of course, nobody wanted to touch my goodies (baked or otherwise) while I was sick, so I'm a week late in preparing any treats.

So, in hopes of having a happy Monday at work, I made some chocolate cupcakes today.

I'm bad at decorating so I just covered 'em in sprinkles!

Chocolate Cupcakes
***Okay, since I started this post on May 1st, and now it's May 17th, I don't remember where I got the cupcake recipe. But, it had a cup of buttermilk in it and man were the cupcakes delicious... though they dried out a bit after only one day!



Vanilla Frosting
"That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had"
Oh man. That REALLY WAS the best frosting I've ever had. Don't be scared of the flour goop-- it is incredible. It's light (in flavor, not in calories), and delicious, and despite people's comments on the Tasty Kitchen recipe, I found that the consistency stayed really great over time. The only thing I did differently is I used 1% milk, and I used superfine sugar. I actually hoarded the extra frosting and ate it on strawberries, graham crackers, and my finger (I'm not ashamed) until it was gone. YUM.