Snow Day Apple Pie

Kansas got hit by a pretty large snowstorm on Tuesday, and we ended up with two snow days because of it. It was a dream come true. Wednesday I wanted to make the most of the forced time off and decided to bake my first apple pie from scratch. Scott had been wanting me to make one for a while, and his mom even gave me a pie crust that had been passed down to her (which added to the pressure). I had never made a pie crust before, so I wasn’t very confident that it would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised! I forgot to take any photographs once it was done though; next time perhaps.

It wasn’t a special recipe, so I won’t post it here. But I used a butter/shortening combination for the crust, and just cinnamon and sugar for the filling with the apples. It was quite simple really. After I put the pie in the oven I noticed that my crust edges weren’t very pretty, so I have something to work on next time. 🙂

Rhubarb Eton Mess and Salmon with Herbs

I have been super busy lately and haven’t shared any of the images from my recipe challenge here, let alone anything else. So, it is time to catch up. First up, is the week one recipe I made. My sister and I had chosen rhubarb, so I made a Rhubarb Eton Mess (a traditional English dessert). Be sure to check out the full post here. Kari (the sister) made a rustic rhubarb tart that you can check out here.

 

For week two we had decided on fresh herbs. I made a simple rosemary salmon on the grill, and it was delicious. My sister made an oregano pesto for her recipe.

343/366 – Tiramisu

The past week has been a whirlwind. Last week I somewhat spontaneously decided to make a trip to South Dakota to visit my brother and his family before coming back to Manhattan. Between getting ready for that, saying goodbyes, and my adventure there I haven’t had a chance to post. However, I am back in Manhattan now so it is time to get caught up. There are some exciting pictures to come!

*Friday, January 4

Friday was a busy day of last-minute get togethers and goodbyes. I met up with one of my best friends for “lunch” at a local cafe where I indulged in some delicious tiramisu.

336/366 – Lemon Meringue

*Thursday, December 27
My card reader or SD card randomly decided to stop working until this evening, so now I’m behind yet again.

239/366 – Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is probably my favorite thing in the world. Normally it is my “cool, fall day comfort food” but since it has been refusing to feel like fall even slightly here in Kansas I decided to give up and just make some the other day.

If anyone is interested I can post the recipe as well!

172/366 – Cupcake

94/366 – Cheesecake

Monday, April 9

My flight got in at 1 am Monday morning, and then I went to work a 12 hour day after getting 4 hours of sleep. Needless to say I was exhausted when I got home, and so I snapped a few shots of my cheesecake super quick before passing out.

Cake in a mug (recipe)

Yesterday my 366 was a picture of cake in a mug that I made for me and my parents. I had some people ask about the recipe, so here it is!

These are super easy to make, and takes about 5 minutes at the most. And, they are delicious. But the best part: it makes two, perfectly portioned pieces of cake. I generally am just cooking for myself so making a whole cake is ridiculous. I usually top them with chocolate syrup and sometimes with a scoop of ice cream; they make for a deliciously rich dessert.

Ingredients:
5 tbs all-purpose flour
5 tbs granulated sugar
2 tbs cocoa powder
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
4 tbs milk
1 tbs melted butter
4 tbs vegetable oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 microwave safe mugs

Mix the dry ingredients in one of the microwave safe mugs. In a small bowl lightly beat the egg and add in the other wet ingredients, mixing well. Add in the dry mixture, and mix well until fully combined. Pour half the batter in each mug. One at a time, microwave the mugs on high for around a minute. The cake will still look gooey on top, but if you don’t think it is quite done put it back in the microwave for 15 seconds or so. Let cool for a bit, and dig in!

 

My Recent Obsessions

For some reason I have been on a huge baking/cooking kick lately. Usually I just slap something together for meals, like a typical college student. But, for the past few weeks I have been cooking myself real, delicious meals. And I have been experimenting with my own recipes too. It has been an adventure, and I think it is turning into some sort of therapy for me.

This was a pizza I made for dinner the other night, and goodness it was delicious. One of the best pizzas I have had, if I may be so vain.

Last week I found a recipe online for cupcakes for two. I thought it would be perfect for me and my new obsession with baking. I tried them out tonight, and they were wonderful! It was the first time I had made cupcakes from scratch, and I played with the recipe a little to make them funfetti cupcakes instead of plain vanilla. The frosting is also made from scratch, but that is a given with me.

Besides my baking and cooking spree, I have had a little obsession with plants and growing things. Grass seed is what I had available, so I have 3 different containers growing grass at the moment. The tins, which have been up on my blog recently, and this glass, and a big pot of it. I have just been craving color in my life recently I guess.

127/365 – Cupcake

Yesterday was insanely busy so I didn’t get a chance to post. I had a grill out at my house for my birthday and spent the entire day getting things ready for it. It was such a fun little gathering! These were from last night, but only one got eaten, so I now have cupcakes for the week. Elliot got me a Gorillapod for my birthday, so I played around with that for this picture.

I also used a method called focus stacking on this image. This involves taking several pictures with very slightly different focus points, and then combining them to get a larger depth of field. It allows me to keep the background out of focus but bring my entire subject into focus. Such a great little trick!