Consummate Crumble

You probably didn’t know that I am an expert apple stacker.
It’s cool, I don’t blame you. I like to keep it on the DL. It’s just one of the many hidden talents unemployment has highlighted in myself (along with: thinking up crazy career ideas, e-mail begging, and savings account decimation).
Unlike these apples (you will find), [...]

Peanut Butter Bready Time

Last night during Quiz Night at the Sage Cafe (we came in second, I don’t want to talk about it…we took a chance on James Madison and he wronged us) there was a question about the periodic table of elements: What is the periodic table symbol for lead? The answer is Pb, which my table [...]

Radicchiously good Risotto

I throw the word “love” around a lot–with food. A few days ago, I loved soup. Before that, I loved dumplings. I love pickles and raspberries and yogurt and a whole host of other things. And today I am going sit here and tell you that I, honestly and truly, love risotto. I think one [...]

Cupcakes we can believe in

I spent like 10 minutes trying to fit “Obama” into the word “cupcakes.” I don’t think it can happen–the closest I got was cupcobamakes. You will have to settle for a bastardization of the Change We Can Believe In campaign phrase.

I don’t know what you’re doing for Inauguration Day, but I hope you have a [...]

Soup’s on!

I love soup. I love soup when it has been below 20 degrees outside for nearly 5 days in a row. I love the idea of chopping a bunch of things, putting them in a pot, and letting them boil for a bit. I love eating with a spoon and I love winter-type vegetables all [...]

Making lemonade (from lemons!)

Please excuse me, I have been busy:
That’s right, 25 brand new colorful Sharpies. Incidentally, the colors are not listed on the pens themselves, so you know I was sitting there for hours drawing lines of each color and deciding what each should be named. I am nothing if not predictable. You’d be surprised at how [...]

Dumplings without expectations

Confession: I have never been to Italy. I’ve been to Luxembourg, but not Italy. I’ve been to Slovenia, just not Italy. I’ve even been to the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, England, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, etc. I’m not trying to sound privileged (most of the aforementioned countries were seen by me from [...]

Zen and the art of pancakes

If you ever find yourself in Eugene, OR, make it your business to stop by the Keystone Cafe. In addition to the best cross-section of hippies, you can also find what I think are the best pancakes out there: plate-sized Oatmeal Sesame monsters. They even sell the mix, and you’d be wise to pick some [...]

More chocolate, more hassle

I am not giving you guys a break here. I wanted to post a nice, simple recipe so that beginner bakers would not feel overwhelmed. But now I’m here throwing more multi-step recipes at you like it ain’t no thang. This cake is a thang.
But bear with me here. My brother’s girlfriend spent 3 months [...]

Epic Torrone

I blame Martha Stewart. I bought one of her magazines in Costco in preparation for the holidays and got all excited about the candy section. I’ve never made candy before, not even those lame chocolate lollipops people used to make in snowman shapes in middle school, and I was hankering for adventure. What Martha neglected [...]