fresh strawberry cupcakes + strawberry cream cheese frosting.

by shannon on May 17, 2012 in desserts with 10 Comments

I get a little over-excited when early summer fruit starts to hit the markets. Around here, fruit is about this close to being completely inedible during the winter months, and normally I throw up my hands after one too many boxes of flavorless little nothings and just wait it out for spring to hit. I’ve paid my winter dues. I’ve waited. Made muffins with frozen fruit. Drowned my sorrows in banana cake. I know what you’re thinking; it was rough. Thankfully, my wait is over, and hopefully yours is too; a few weeks ago, the first big, deep red, beautiful strawberries caught my eye. Finally, it is time for fresh strawberry cupcakes. Continue reading →

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farmers’ market mondays: bacon + poached egg salad.

by shannon on May 14, 2012 in brunch, mains, salads with 10 Comments

Miraculously, this post exists. I had a little meltdown late last week; it wasn’t a personal meltdown (surprising) but rather a technological one. It seems as though toddlers bearing large glasses of water and a high activity level don’t play well with laptop computers. Thankfully, we have an Apple store (the geeky one, not filled with apples) nearby and Mr. Table ran it up after I a) freaked out, b) cried, and c) assumed it would be at least 3 weeks until I would get it back, it would cost thousands to fix, and when I did get it back, everything would be erased. You see, people, I live by the rule that states if you worst-case-scenario every single problem, it will always turn out better thank you expected. In reality, my laptop had a short in the power input jack, it cost $50, and I had it back within 24 hours. How did I feel? Elated, and thankful I once again managed to ward off total devastation by merely overreacting. Mr. Table, you’re welcome. Continue reading →

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spring potato + vegetable salad.

by shannon on May 10, 2012 in salads, sides with 14 Comments

This salad is a testament to what you can do when you read through a recipe and complete tasks in stages. I don’t even feel like I made this beautiful thing. I feel like someone else made it for me and delivered it to my house. But no one did that; I made this. Am I delirious? Has butter and sugar finally overtaken my brain and turned it to mush? No. I’m just thrilled at having the internet search ability to find a fantastic recipe I could make with the rest of my farmers’ market booty from this week. The result was so satisfying and so simple, I wanted to share it with you.  Continue reading →

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farmers’ market mondays: spring vegetable salad + honey lime vinaigrette.

by shannon on May 7, 2012 in salads, sides with 15 Comments

Welcome again to Farmers’ Market Mondays. I should also say thank you; thank you for getting super excited about FMM. I’ve already had a great time searching for recipe ideas I can build on and rummaging through tables and tables of fresh produce, and it’s only week two. It’s also really nice to get back in the habit of eating like I should be eating, with my refrigerator and pantry stuffed to the gills with non-sugar-related items. It’s about time, people. These last few months have been busy, and I’ve let my normally healthy eating habits fall by the wayside. It hit me a few weeks ago when I realized it was 10 am, and the only thing I had had to eat was 2 cups of coffee and some buttercream frosting I was busy making and testing. Embarrassing. Continue reading →

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the momofuku carrot layer cake + pumpkin ganache.

by shannon on May 2, 2012 in desserts with 23 Comments

I was so nervous about making this cake. Nervous, and also psyched. Pretty psyched, actually. It’s my first attempt at a Momofuku Milk Bar cake! And if you think the cookies are a big production, they’re nothing compared to the layer cakes. There are special cake rings and acetate strips to purchase, multiple recipes to complete and let cool, fancy layering and freezing…tons of things. But I’ve almost finished baking the Milk Bar cookies from the book, and I’m moving on, so getting this cake under my belt seemed like the perfect thing to do this past Easter. And so, there was cake. Continue reading →

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greek panzanella salad + a new series: farmers’ market mondays.

by shannon on April 30, 2012 in breakfast, brunch, mains, salads with 13 Comments

It seems as though there’s a general theme out there right now with my fellow baking (and cooking, sometimes) bloggers: we feel poofy. We could lose a few pounds. We need to eat better. And isn’t that like, exactly what happens to everyone around this time of year, right? It’s warmer, winter’s officially over, some of us are scheduling our summer vacations and thinking “holy, crap; I have to actually wear that swimsuit in public at some point.” And I have an almost-2-year-old. What does that mean? You guessed it; more photos than some countries allow anytime she’s in close proximity to my mother. What it also means is that when my wee one is photographed, she is often photographed with her mother’s thighs in the frame. *sigh* Continue reading →

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movita’s birthday cake for the “bake my cake 2012″ competition.

by shannon on April 28, 2012 in desserts with 32 Comments

the polls are open! and we’re in the finals! vote early, vote often, vote here. You’re allowed one vote per electronic device. laptop, computer, iPhone, iPad, any other iThing you have access to. If you’re at work, I suggest temporarily “borrowing” your coworkers’ computers to vote as well. You know…if you want. Like yesterday, I’m up against some really awesome cakes, so it’s not going to be easy.

A crazy person can most likely be defined by a) their desire to enter really weird contests and b) their relationship to tiny, tiny decorating. I think you all know where on the spectrum I fall.

This is my big reveal: my friend Movita Beaucoup is holding a competition called “Bake My Cake 2012.” It is a competition to make her the best birthday cake ever. EVER. it is being judged over the next few days (details here; there will be Olympic-style cake heats!), and I am as excited to see the other entries as I am to have entered this cake into the ring. This, dear friends, is my submission for Bake My Cake 2012: I call it “Movita Beaucoup’s Bakery Story.”

Continue reading →

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confetti cookies.

by shannon on April 23, 2012 in desserts with 16 Comments

I don’t think I need to tell you that these were  a blast to make. I’m nearing the end of my Momofuku Milk Bar cookie journey (only one more to go and I will have baked them all), and it’s getting easier and easier to whip out one of their incredible cookies. I’ve come full circle; where there used to be nervous measuring and meticulous timing, there is now laid-back whisking and incorporating. No more agonizing over baking time, either; I know what to look for, I know how to check them, I know when they’re done. Momofuku cookies for me are, in a word, relaxing to make now. And I am thrilled about that. Continue reading →

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rosemary remembrance cake.

by shannon on April 21, 2012 in breakfast, brunch, desserts with 12 Comments

I wish I knew the right thing to say. Ever, really, but especially in situations where it is most needed. As I think is the case with a good amount of us, I find it much easier to express my thoughts and feelings on paper than I do verbally. Verbally, I clam up, I say the wrong thing, I trip and stumble and bumble my way through awkward, short-lived conversations only to replay them in my head later wondering why indeed I’ve never had my jaw wired shut. This is especially true in sensitive, somber situations. simply put, I am horrendous at providing comfort and I beat myself up about it thinking there should be a way to change that. Continue reading →

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peach tart.

by shannon on April 19, 2012 in desserts with 8 Comments

If this doesn’t scream summer, then I don’t know what does. I have a fondness for this little dessert, which I affectionately call my “trashy peach tart” due to it being made with canned peaches. Canned fruit is a little tacky, right? Try as it may, canned fruits never seems to actually taste like their fresh fruit counterparts. Some come close – pears in a can taste like poached pears, pineapples come reasonably close to real pineapple taste minus some of the tartness – but the peaches? Different in every conceivable way. That being said, I’m a kid from the seventies/eighties, and canned fruit things were a staple in our lunch boxes. For me, peaches topped my list. I’m not ashamed. As a grown-up, I love fresh fruit, especially peaches, but a not quite ripe peach is a flavorless one, and I don’t always like to wait. This is how I get my peach fix before the perfectly ripened peaches hit the markets. This is also how I get my “I miss being a kid in the seventies/eighties” fix. Because, really, who doesn’t miss that. Continue reading →

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