The Pie Project #5 - Strawberry Rhubarb

People, I'm on a pie-making roll!  Well, if you consider two pies in two weeks a roll (which as a full-time working mom, I certainly do!).  Strawberry rhubarb is probably my second favorite pie out there, if not a tie with apple.  Because I have feared missing the narrowly small window that is rhubarb season, I decided to seize my Saturday night and make a pie.  Domestic goddess or crazy woman - the jury is still out...

Now, I've made plenty of strawberry rhubarb crisps, but never a whole pie.  As usual, I subscribed to trustworthy Martha Stewart for this recipe, and followed fellow bakers advice to add extra cornstarch - which totally worked!  I ended up scratching the lattice crust for a basic pie crust - and it tasted just fine, but next time I think I'd attempt the lattice if only for a pretty presentation.  

Best part - pie for breakfast the last 2 days.  Can't beat that!

Past Pies * one * two * three * four

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Cronut

Are post pregnancy cravings a real thing? Because if so, I am CAAA-RRRAVING a cronut!  FYI - for the uninformed, cronut = croissant + donut.  Doesn't that sound amazeballs?!  Made in limited quantities fresh daily at NYC's Dominiquie Ansel Bakery, these babies sell out like hotcakes.  Lines are rumored to form at 4:30 AM or earlier, wrapping Soho blocks in eager anticipation of these sugary puffs of perfection.  

And yes, well technically, I've never actually had a cronut before, (but that's besides the point), as they've already reached epic delectability in my imagination.  I'm totally living the cronut experience vicariously through Naomi's blog.  Next time I'm in New York (whenever that may be) this is definitely on my to-do list.

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I Could Go For a Beer...

For some reason, this sounds delicious to me right about now, a Guinness Cream Soda. Maybe it's my almost two-week-long cocktail of cough syrup, Vitamin C, fruit juice that's driven me to crave vanilla-y beer, but either way, sounds pretty good. While an ordinary cream soda usually contains club soda, cream, and vanilla syrup, the "boozy version uses vanilla and ginger liqueurs instead of syrup. The creamy froth of the Guinness stout instead of cream to take this drink from soda fountain to bar top."

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Cider Tea

I just heard about this fantastic autumn trick. If you're a tea fan, try this, rather than brew your tea in the usual water, try brewing in hot cider instead. I can't wait to try this! It'll add a kick of apple spice to my usual chai tea in the evenings!

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PB & J

I brought PB & J for lunch today, I am such a teacher. But it's nothing compared to these PB & J ice cream sandwiches, sweetened up by a layer of raspberry sorbet. Can you spell YUM?

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Do You Doughnut?

Doughnuts seem to be all exploding across the blogosphere these days. Is it just me, or are doughnut shoppes are taking over? Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Top Pot in Seattle (my local fave), and a smattering in bigger cities like NYC, including Doughnut Plant which I can personally attest to. I happen to fully support the trend, I love a good doughnut, even if it's not within my healthy-wedding-eating parameters.

My personal fave is a sprinkle doughnut or a pink feather boa (pink icing with coconut).

What's your favorite kind of doughnut?

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Beer Marshmallows

I love marshmallows.

I mean, how can you not?

They remind me of Easter baskets.

Chewy. Fluffy. Sugary. Sweet.

Until recently, I never knew you could actually make your own marshmallows. I mean, I guess I could've figured it out, marshmallows were obviously made somewhere. But in my world, marshmallows always came off of the shelf beside graham crackers and hershey bars at the grocery store.

I'm sure one day, I'll carve out some time to actually make marshmallows for myself. But until then, chew on this..beer marshmallows. Guaranteed these are not your average ordinary Easter basket marshmallows.

Is it weird that I'm really curious to try one...

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Potted Pudding

On my week off school, I'm looking forward to checking many things off my to-do list including hitting up the nursery for some spring flowers and herbs to pot and plants to brighten my window boxes. While blog browsing to select my plants du jour, up I came across Martha's edible potted puddings. These adorable desserts are cleverly disguised as seedlings. Chocolate mint pudding topped with cookie crumb "dirt" and flowering herbs. What an appropriate treat for a Spring garden party!

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Nouveau Frosting

Love this new spin on frosted cupcakes, skip the frosting and instead opt for melted marshmallows! Pop a marshmallow atop each cupcake with 3-minutes left to bake, and the melted mallow leaves a light fluffy (and well spread) layer of frosting. Perhaps the perfect camping dessert??...

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Sweet Tooth

I'm craving something sweet today, and finding my pantry sorely out of sweet snacks. Boo! Wishing one of these rootbeer float cupcakes would just POOF! and appear in front of me. What's your go-to sweet snack?

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National Doughnut Day

Time to celebrate, it's National Donut Day! Woohoo, what a pleasant excuse to indulge in a sweet treat. My fave donuts in Seattle - Top Pot Doughnuts!

What's your favorite kind of doughnut? My fave - chocolate with coconut or chocolate with sprinkles. YUM!

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Watermelon Pie

The weather has been hot, Hot, HOT here in Seattle, and it's been amazing considering our chilly Spring. With the shift of warm weather, people are out and about, basking in the sunshine, pulling out the shades & sunscreen, and eating more ice cream. Doesn't this watermelon pie look like a fun warm weather dessert? A little creativity and a little sherbet can go a long way!

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Panna What?

I've been cultivating a few fave food blogs and like any good blogger, I have my favorites. I usually check the "food feed" in my Google Reader every couple of days to salivate over the culinary delights circulating blog land.

I'm always wooed by the tempting desserts, salted caramel this and blueberry heaven that. I came across this lovely post via Tartelette - a lovely little food blog, and immediately the word rhubarb caught my eye. Rhubarb! My fave - it's tart, tangy zing of a flavor blended with sugar is perfection, the ideal blend of tart + sweet.

As I reread the recipe title again...I spotted lavender panna cotta? Interesting, sounds very floral and therefore aromatic...even tasty. But more than anything I was wondering, what exactly is panna cotta? I mean, I've seen it on dessert menus before, but I usually order something absurdly rich and chocolaty without a moments hesitation.

So my solution? Wikipedia. Seriously, what did people do before the internet? Dun Dun Dun Dun! Success:
Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk, and sugar, mixing this in with gelating, and letting it cool until set. Originating from the Piedmont region in Italy, it is eaten all over Italy where it is often served with wild berries, caramel, chocolate sauce or fruit coulis. The expression literally means "cooked cream."

Sounds good enough right? The only logical next step is to make it myself and conclude my panna cotta knowledge with experience. Lavendar Panna Cotta with Poached Rhubarb, watch out, you're on the to-do list! Anyone ever made this before??

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Cookie Crush

I read about this delightful NYC bakery, Ruby et Violette via Joanna's amazing blog, and now I can't wait to visit New York...just for a cookie (or two). Now I know most bakeries are the same, but their website was quite intriguing. First and foremost, the cookie flavors are incredibly creative! Ever had a marshmallow cookie? Or German chocolate cake? Maybe peach cobbler, white Irish, or champagne strawberry...among others! Can we say "delicious?"

Mmm, my mouth is watering right now! Next stop: New York City!!

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Love Those Ends

It's a given...everyone loves brownies. But if you had your pick, wouldn't you always pick the corner brownies? You know the ones, they hug the edge of the pan. Let's face it, the end brownies are just superior; better consistency and crust, the perfect blend of crunchiness and chewiness. If this is you (as it is indeed me), check this out, The Baker's Edge Brownie Pan. This lovely little tool enables you to always ensure you get the pick of the brownie batch! Ingenious! Why didn't I think of that?!?

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Cupcake for 1

Aren't these mini cupcake stands adorable?
Makes me want to eat a cupcake right about now...

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Happy Pączki Day

Yes, you read that right, Happy Pączki Day...well belated because technically I was flying home from Mexico on Fat Tuesday, which is also known as Pączki day in Polish culture. Despite all the consonants in the name, pączki {prounounced poonch-kee} is a customary Polish sweet treat and indulgence before Lent.

What exactly is a pączki, you ask? Well, technically it's a deep-fried piece of dough flattened and filled with a sweet filling and usually topped with powdered sugar, icing, or dried orange zest. My 100% Polish, mid-western sweetie grew up celebrating this day, so I thought I'd post about it for him. Unfortunately there aren't as many Polish bakeries out in Seattle as there are in Michigan it turns out, so we've discovered pączkis are hard to come by... If anything, food for thought, happy pączki day!

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Cupcake Ready

I've been very into cupcakes lately, could you tell? Maybe it's because I just acquired a new cupcake pan from the Seattle kitchen store Sur La Table. Hoping to try these lemon meringue cupcakes in the near future.

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Pumpkin is Everywhere!

With no school today, yesterday was my Friday. My Friday tradition or "treat" to myself is I get to buy a latte + treat, as opposed to making coffee and breakfast at home. I stopped on into Top Pot Doughnuts, a popular Seattle area doughnut chain and low and behold - they had pumpkin doughnuts! Intrigued but unsure of a pumpkin doughnut would taste I took a risk and....it was AMAZING! Defintiely want to go back for another. What will they think of next??

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Butter Me Up

While cruising the aisles of Trader Joes yesterday I spotted this - pumpkin butter. While I've heard of almond butter, apple butter, I'd never heard of pumpkin butter. While I was tempted to try it out, I held off to wait and see if it's worth the purchase. Anyone ever tried this before?

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