Last weekend I made a trip to Long Island to go berry picking. It was a day filled with merriment, but also sore legs and creaking backs. I had to shove my face in the ground to pick the last remaining edible strawberries of the late season. I also tried snap pea ice cream for the first time, the you-pick farm made their own, and it was interesting, but I didn't love it. At the end of the day I came home with two heaping pints of fresh raspberries and strawberries. What better activity to do other than make cheesecake?
S'mores Cupcakes
The one thing I wished someone would have told me when I was younger was how lonely adulthood would be. Especially when you move to a new place. I wish someone would have told me that you have to make some serious efforts to find new friends. It's probably easier for some people than others; I can't imagine that everyone in the world becomes a nervous wreck around large groups of strangers. How do I get over my social anxiety?
I guess my point is: even though I don't have much going on most days besides cooking, blogging, and watching trashy daytime talk shows (which, I'm convinced are just huge multi-product infomercials under the guise of something else, holy product placement, Batman!), it still took me weeks to get around to making these cupcakes. They were delicious, I should have made them sooner.
Chocolate Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Can I tell you a secret? I don't actually like sweet things all that much. Shhhhhhh.
A few times a month I do bake cookies, cakes, muffins, crumbles, bars, shortbreads, and...you get the point. Each time around, I only consume one or two servings myself. The one exception being any type of bread, i.e. banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread. The rest goes to either the boy, the roommate, co-workers, or other friends. I mean, I do thoroughly enjoy the one or two servings I eat, but I never have the desire to devour the rest of the batch, as delicious as it may be.
Rhubarb Sorbet
It's almost Memorial Day, which means summer is about to get into full swing. Every summer I like to try my hand at making a few different sorbets and ice creams through the months. Some turn out amazing, like the peach ice cream I made last year, some turn out disgusting, like the cherry coconut milk ice cream I failed at making (blech!).