saturday morning blueberry muffins recipe

saturday morning blueberry muffins with crumble top
makes: 10 muffins

ingredients (muffins):
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

ingredients (crumble topping):
3 TBS flour
3 TBS brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 TBS butter

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease your muffin tin, or line with baking cups.
2. combine all the dry ingredients & make a well in the center
3. combine egg, milk and oil in a separate bowl.  add to the dry ingredients & stir just until moistened - the batter will be a little lumpy.
4. gently fold in the blueberries
5. to make crumble top: combine the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter until it turns into coarse crumbs.
6. spoon batter into muffin tin (i made filled 10 tins, but i'm sure you can stretch it out to a full dozen if you're less generous when filling the cups).  sprinkle crumble topping on each of the muffins.
7. bake for 18-20 minutes, or til a toothpick comes out clean.

(yet another) vegan banana bread recipe

does your banana bread always result from spotting those near-black bananas on your countertop? mine always does.


{katie's} (yet another) vegan banana bread
makes: one 9x5 loaf

ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3 ripe, mashed-up, medium-sized bananas
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup (4 oz) applesauce (4 oz. = one of those small individual serving cups)
1 TBS ground flax seed, mixed with 3 TBS water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray
2. mix (well): sugar, oil, mashed bananas, milk, applesauce and flax mixture in a large bowl.
3. combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, soda, salt, cinnamon).
4. add the dry to the wet and stir only until blended.
5. fold in the walnuts and coconut
6. spoon batter into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes.

english muffins v 2.0

the mister's missed out on a lot of rad food (pizza, english muffins) being out on tour (although he's had some culinary adventures of his own), so now that he's home, i made some more english muffins.  he requested some non-vegan ones (these are made with buttermilk), and i thought this recipe on tastespotting looked good, so i went with that.

followed the recipe as-is, except i used a cast iron skillet rather than a griddle for 'cooking' the muffins.  i took her advice and weighed the dough with a kitchen scale - it gave me 6 uniformly-sized pieces (i had a problem with that with the vegan muffins...some were too thick, some were too thin. it seems easy enough to eyeball it, but weighing is the way to go if you want conformity). these are VERY easy to make & i highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for an easy yeast-based thing to try.  just make sure to account for all the rise time when you start it (60-90 minutes for dough {mine took more like 90-120 min...house was a little chilly} / another hour before baking them). so it's a good activity if you've played hooky from work.

verdict: 
taste:  vegan vs these:  tie
texture/consistency:  these guys

says the mister: "the best english muffin i've ever had".

pineapple cookies (vegan recipe)

i bought one of those grocery store pre-cored (sounds like an emo-based music genre) pineapples and didn't know what to do with it. i didn't want to make muffins since i'm still polishing off some scones and don't need another breakfast bread around. i was going to make some sort of pineapple fried rice dish, but i've cooked a few different dinners for myself this week and still need to eat those leftovers (i've been cooking regular-sized recipes for my (temporarily) single self, so that means a lot of extra food!)
i decided on cookies. i browsed around the net and came up with my own concoction based on approx 10 different recipes.

vegan pineapple cookies
makes: about 30 cookies

ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick/8 TBS) earth balance shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pineapple, crushed

directions:
-preheat the oven to 350. line baking sheets with parchment paper
-cream the shortening and sugar together in a stand mixer. (my shortening came straight from the fridge, so it took several minutes to achieve a creamy state)
-add extracts & pumpkin and mix to combine
-combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
-slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones.
-add the crushed pineapple and mix just to combine.
-drop tablespoon-sized balls onto the cookie sheets and bake 'til golden, around 16-18 minutes. let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

notes:
-i crushed/chopped the pineapple in a small food processor (just a few quick pulses).  you can it cut by hand, just make sure to get pieces chopped up fine. alternately, you can use canned crushed pineapple, just make sure to drain off most of the juice.
-the parchment paper thing didn't hit me until i had already baked 2 dozen cookies. since they're kind of cake-like and moist, it created a bit of a problem when trying to remove the cookies from the ungreased cookie sheet. i used parchment for the final batch and it worked a lot better.
-at first the idea of pureed pumpkin for my "vegan egg" seemed strange (mixing an autumn staple with a tropical fruit?!), but i didn't think the flax/water thing would work for such a delicate cookie.  (click here for a list of vegan egg substitutes). the pumpkin provides more of a fluffy-textural element and these don't taste the slightest bit pumpkiny.

and now for a song:

yet another reason you should buy the 'vegan brunch' cookbook...

...english muffins! 
seriously, vegan or not, buy this cookbook!

lemon blueberry scones (vegan)

thanks to those rad pumpkin scones i made a few weeks ago, i've been on a scone kick lately.  i had some fresh blueberries in the fridge & a bagful of lemons, so i thought those ingredients seemed ripe for some scone makin'.  i perused the internet for a recipe & didn't find one quite to my liking, so i invented my own. kind of scary, but the proportions seemed similar enough to the pumpkin ones, so i gave it a go. they turned out just fine...delicious, even!

lemon blueberry scones (vegan)

makes: 8 big ones (or 16 little ones) 

ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 TBS baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ginger

zest of 1 lemon

¼ cup earth balance

¼ cup melted coconut oil (or canola oil)

¾ cup almond milk

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 cup fresh blueberries (tossed with a little flour and/or granulated sugar)

for glaze: a tablespoon or so of remaining lemon juice + ½ cup powdered sugar (more or less juice depending on what you want the consistency like)…or...sprinkle unbaked scones with turbinado sugar

directions:

1.     preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2.     combine all the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, lemon zest) in a large bowl.

3.     measure out the almond milk and add the lemon juice – let it sit while you do the rest.

4.     “cut in” the earth balance (I just used my fingers to crumble it up)

5.     add the liquefied coconut oil and stir til combined

6.     add the almond milk to the mixture and stir til combined.  Then gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula (I rinsed them in a mesh strainer, dried them off, and added a little flour and white sugar)

7.     put the mixture on a silipat and form into a disc (about 6 inches across) – cut with a pizza cutter into 8 triangles and transfer to baking sheet. bake for 15-18 minutes until the scones are firm & a toothpick comes out clean.

8.     Cool on a wire rack (lined with wax or parchment paper) and drizzle glaze on the top. 

pumpkin scones (vegan)

i never knew what to think about scones. they always look really dry, like you'd take a bite and just go "cachhhhhhh" with your throat. like sticking a bunch of saltines in your mouth or something.  i've never ordered or bought one, and i've never baked them either.  but last month at our work christmas party, i tried a cranberry scone (from panera) and thought it was great.  fast forward to january, and it seems as if i've ended up with no less than 14 cans of libby pumpkin puree in my pantry (they were on clearance for 44¢ at walgreens, so i stocked up. they also had boxes of domino brown sugar for 25¢!). and i'm a little burnt out on muffins. scone time!  i used this recipe for vegan pumpkin scones and made a few slight modifications (wheat flour & more spices).  they turned out like fluffy little pillows - not dry at all - and not overly sweet either.

Pumpkin Scones (adapted from Vegan Joy)

1/3 cup almond milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
½ cup canned pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
dash of ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt

For the glaze:
1 tablespoon earth balance, melted
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line it with parchment, and set aside.

Make the scones: In a medium bowl or 2-cup measure, whisk together almond milk, vinegar, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, and pour in the liquid mixture. Using a flexible spatula, make a scraping-scooping-pressing sort of motion to gently combine the two. When you have only a few streaks of flour left in the dough, remove it to a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough evenly into a circle 6” in diameter and about 1 ½” high. Using a sharp knife, cut the mound into eight wedges; it should be fairly sticky and a bit misshapen; that’s okay. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet.

Bake until firm and just baked through (insert a knife; if it comes out clean, they’re done), 12-15 minutes.

Make the glaze: Whisk all glaze ingredients together and drizzle over scones.

chocolate dipped apricot cookies

i'm not one to ever watch the better homes and gardens daytime tv show, but i happened to catch a segment about christmas cookies last week. maybe it was because i was in the middle of a 3-mile treadmill run at the y, but these sonsaguns looked good. so i picked up the ingredients & made them today. i'm also not one to use baking shortcuts, but the recipe called for a package of betty crocker sugar cookie mix, so i obliged.  what can i say, the holidays make us do crazy things.

you can watch the segment here, or just follow this recipe:

Dark Chocolate Apricot Cookies

ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

1/4 tsp orange extract

1 package betty crocker sugar cookie mix

1 cup chopped dried apricots

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

method:

• preheat oven to 375.
• combine cookie mix, butter, orange extract and egg w/ a mixer until soft. 
• fold in apricots
• scoop out (big teaspoon sized balls) onto cookie sheet and bake until golden, about 8-10 minutes. 
• cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• when the cookies are cool, melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring a few times.  dip in chocolate and place on a sheet of wax or parchment paper 

while taking these cookie pictures, i realized that they kinda look like moppy-haired boys. and because i have nothing better to do with my time (thanks, 10-day work break!) i photoshopped faces onto the cookies. they kinda remind me of my husband.

cookie boys

crumble top apple pie (in pictures)

a story of pie in pictures.

1) made the crust the day before

2) made the crumble top the day before:

 3) peeled and cut a billion apples (or about 7-8 lbs worth):

Note: there's even apples on my cutting board, pepping me up in case i get off task.

4) roll out the pie crusts:

5) fill the pie shells:

6) cover with crumbles & bake:

7) PIE TIME:

notes: i follow the recipe exactly as written, except i use a variety of apples instead of strictly granny smith.  so i usually end up using a bit less sugar since some of the apples are sweeter.

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but here's the belated story on my pumpkin pie.

I did research on how to roast the pumpkin & found many different methods - I cut the pumpkins in half, scooped out the seeds & pulp, and placed cut side down in a glass baking dish filled with an inch or two of water.  375 degrees for about an hour. Scooped out the pumpkin mush and placed in a sieve to drain a little water.  Then I pureed it in my food processor to make it super smooth and ended up with this:

(I used 2 pumpkins and kept them separate.  The more yellow-ish one on the left was a little sweeter)

After looking at several pumpkin pie recipes, I decided on this one from Joy Of Baking.  (I was going to try this one instead, but I opted for the one that utilized a pastry crust).

I did do the "optional" gingersnap/pecan layer:

Final Version:

so...was the "real" pumpkin puree worth it?  i'll answer it with a resounding "maybe". it would've been interesting to make 2 different pies (one w/ canned) for a blind taste test. but let me just say this, it really isn't difficult AT ALL to roast the pumpkins. i had the mister cut them in half for me since i've been prone to stupid kitchen injuries lately (thumb cut - food processor blade / blistering steam burn - coffee pot). and i was able to use the leftovers in other recipes.  i'd do it again, definitely. i think everyone liked the pie, too.

(vegan) pear hazelnut bread recipe

i took a recipe for cooking light's hazelnut-pear tea bread recipe (found in this cookbook) and turned it vegan.   my adapted version is as follows:

(vegan) hazelnut pear bread
ingredients:
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup shredded peeled pear (about 2 medium)  *i used 1 large pear & 1 small gala apple
1/2 cup sugar
3 TBS canola oil
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 TBS applesauce
1 TBS ground flax seed + 3 TBS water

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place hazelnuts in a small ovenproof dish & toast in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes, stirring once.
3. Mix ground flax seed and water well and let sit for 10 minutes. in the meantime...
4. Combine flours, nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; make a well in the center.
5. Combine pear, sugar, oil, lemon rind, vanilla, applesauce and flax mixture; mix well.
6. Add wet ingredients to dry, stirring just until moist.
7. Spoon batter into a 8x4 loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 55 minutes (test w/ a toothpick).

notes:
this was my first time "veganizing" a recipe on my own.  i had made this bread twice before so i was familiar with how the original is meant to taste (and just as importantly, what the texture's supposed to be like). since the original called for an egg & an egg white, i thought i'd try out 2 different egg substitutes.  i've had good luck with the flax mixture in the past, and since the bread is based around pears, i figured applesauce was a natural pairing.  i also used 1/4 cup less sugar than the original called for, and after tasting the batter, it was totally sweet enough. that's one of the benefits of vegan baking - the ability to taste the batter without fear of salmonella poisoning!

best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

the mister's favorite cookie is oatmeal chocolate chip, so i've tried about 10 different recipes over the years. the gold standard has been set by great harvest bakery's offering, so we seem to compare everything i make to those cookies. while these don't really taste like the great harvest cookies, i feel like i've found THE recipe and can stop looking. (i found it on a mexican food blog, no less...guess you can end up in unexpected places when searching for recipes...)

vegan potluck & blueberry buckle recipe

last week, we were invited to a vegan potluck dinner in honor of a friend's birthday. the food spread was unbelievable - lentil stew, cashew cheese, samosa pie, spicy greens, beet chocolate cake, brownies, lemon cookies... the mister contributed chana masala and i brought this blueberry buckle. recipe can be found here. 

(notes: i used frozen blueberries instead of fresh - i don't think they were defrosted enough and as such, the batter was really cold. consequently, this needed to bake WAY longer than called for (like, 30 minutes more). the next day when i removed it from the springform pan, it still didn't seem done enough, so i put it on a cookie sheet and cooked for 20 MORE minutes.  leftovers were stored in the fridge - really good warmed up in the toaster oven w/ a little earth balance).

(vegan) lemon poppy seed muffins

i've made a few things from isa chandra moskowitz's "vegan brunch" cookbook & they've all been great (pumpkin bran muffins, zucchini spelt muffins). some other vegan baked goods i've made have turned out too gummy and you could definitely tell that something was amiss; not so with the muffins in this book. these are as easy as can be and delicious!  and you don't even miss the eggs and butter (i promise).

recipe can be found here.

ps: i might have asked/pondered this before, but what are the 'rules' about posting a recipe from a cookbook? do you have to ask permission? can you get in trouble if they were to find it?

wrap-up of holiday foodstuffs

i did lots of cooking/baking/treat-making over the holidays - here's a sampling of the recipes - all of this stuff has gotten the seal of approval by me, the mister, and/or members of my family!

the savory:

Pasta With Kale Pesto i was going to make store bought butternut squash ravioli & i was gonna whip up a little sauce w/ sage, brown butter and balsamic vinegar, but the ravioli had all this weird pink stuff on it (?) and i wasn't sure if it was some wacky mold or something, so i had to scrap that plan. but it was raining & cold, and i did not want to go to the store. i did a search for "butternut squash" and "kale" and found this. remarkably we had all the ingredients on hand. it was awesome. i recommend some sort of whole wheat pasta.  i plan on tricking my pesto-loving nephew and my picky-eater sister with this to see if they can tell that it's not "real" pesto.

Sun Dried Tomato Spread (adapted from Jeanne Lemlin's "Vegetarian Classics" cookbook) made for christmas eve snackin'

Roasted Root Vegetables  made for christmas dinner. first had this at a canadian thanksgiving celebration back in october & got pretty obsessed with them. parsnips rule!

the sweet:

Butterscotch Corn Flake Candy made for christmas eve snackin'. really simple - really good. i like the trader joe's corn flakes because the flakes are smaller than kellogg's.

Lemon Cheesecake with Shortbread Cookie Crust made for a dinner party at our house. i was also responsible for the vegetarian chili, but that was just a bunch of random stuff thrown together in a giant pot (like all good chilis should be).


Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie made for christmas day dessert. this is my go-to apple pie recipe for thanksgiving too. everyone seems to love it.


Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars made for alexis and dave's housewarming/christmas party. a co-worker made these and i freaked the heck out after eating them (in a good way). they were a little mushy when i made them & i imagine they didn't have enough time to firm up before i cut them and brought them to the party.

"grandma's friend julie's rugelach" made for carolyn & david's party, dylan & louisa's party, and the grimeys 10 yr anniversary day.  i needed to bring a little jewish/Hanukkah-ness to these holiday gatherings.

the mister got the kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment for christmas, so i aided in the creation of vanilla strawberry ice cream. real vanilla bean KILLS vanilla extract.  he also got a german fermenting crock, so we should have some rad sauerkraut in 4-6 weeks.  i will also transcribe a really great soup recipe from one of my books - but that will have to wait for another day.
until then - stay warm!

Pumpkin Muffins

cooking and food blogs are ripe with pumpkin-related recipes this time of year, so now it's my turn to add something. i'm not vegan, but i've been exploring more and more vegan blogs lately (out of boredom and curiosity) and have had luck with a vegan cranberry apple cake in the past. thought i'd try these, from the "post punk kitchen". normally i don't take any liberties or make substituions the first time i bake something, but i made some subs. THEY ARE AWESOME.  Perfect texture & consistency. Not super sweet. Perfectly replicates non-vegan baked goods - you wouldn't even know the difference.

Here's what I did:


Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour 
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar 
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can)
1 tablespoon vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon "ginger people" syrup + a little bit of molasses (original recipe calls for 2 tbs molasses, i wanted to try that syrup out! I found it at World Market for $2.99. You could probably leave it out altogether...)

1. Preheat oven to 400 F*. 
     *my oven runs hot, so i had mine set to about 325.
2. Grease muffin tins with vegetable shortening or spray on oil.   
3. Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cloves). 
4. In a separate bowl, wisk together wet ingredients (pumpkin through molasses). 
5. Pour wet into dry and combine. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way. 
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

I also whisked together some softened Neufchatel (1/3 less fat cream cheese), some pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and powdered sugar to spread on top.  Kinda like this, but i really just threw things into a bowl... 

a few recipes

I did a bit of baking/cooking this weekend. Both the recipes were well-received, so I thought I'd share:

101 Cookbooks Pineapple Rice

-i used coconut oil. it was only $5-6 at kroger and it doubles as a moisturizer (it's solidified!)
-remarkably, the lowry st kroger in smyrna had seitan (publix doesn't even carry it). it was my first time using it - very good! i may try making my own soon.
-added more red pepper flakes
-everything i've made from 101 cookbooks has been fantastic. very flavor-able and nutritious.

Pinch My Salt Pumpkin Spice Cake

-instead of 3/4 cup canola oil, i used 1/2 cup canola oil & 1/4 cup applesauce. next time i may use all applesauce and light sour cream and then you could even possible deem this to be slightly "healthy".
-i loosely followed her recipe for my jam thumbprint cookies. she's 2 for 2 in my book.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Rollum loves these bad boys, so this recipe is my attempt at re-creating them. I bought some almond meal at Trader Joe's last week, so I did a google search for "almond meal thumbprint" and this recipe was first on the list, courtesy of a cute little food blog called pinch my salt. I pretty much followed her recipe (which was actually based on another thumbprint cookie recipe), but see below for the changes I made (to flours & extracts). There's as many jam-filled cookie recipes as there are stars in the sky, but this one turned out pretty darn well - really easy, not a lot of ingredients (i had everything on hand except for raspberry jam), and delicious. They're not really the sort of cookies you want to eat right out of the oven & were a lot better the next day.

Jam Thumbprints

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal (trader joe's is way cheaper than bob's red mill)
1/2 cup (or so...) of whatever jam suits your fancy. (i combined about 1/4 cup apricot preserves & 1/4 cup raspberry jam)

1. Using a mixer, cream together butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extract until light and fluffy.
2. Whisk together flours and almond meal, then add to butter mixture and blend well.
3. Shape dough into a log, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Lightly butter cookie sheet(s) and line with parchment paper. Roll about a teaspoon of dough into a ball & place on cookie sheet. Make an indendation with your thumb in the center of the ball.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on wire rack.
7. Fill cookies with jam and enjoy!

"that guy likes kid rock so much, he has a shirt for it!"

i've been a baking machine this weekend. i went to a friend's surprise birthday party on friday night, so i spent the afternoon hanging out with lots of butter, chocolate, and sugar. martha stewart and her double-chocolate brownie cookies totally failed me, and i cursed as i was dealing with the gooey batter. i ended up throwing them out. i fared better with the brownies.

i am so very lazy on some saturdays. but not yesterday! i took helen's bedding to the laundromat, gave her a bath, and made the ultimate campfire dinner. beef barbecue in the crockpot (for sandwiches), homemade coleslaw, and baked beans. rollum asked me to pick up from smores ice cream from the store, but instead i made some smores bars for dessert. (then rollum pointed out the campfire-ness of it all). my dad joined us for dinner too, and we listened to randy newman and linda ronstadt records.

then on to the basement for the hotpipes and the nobility. courtney urged us to go to the red door to meet up with her dude crew and i proceeded to act like i was 21 again. waffle house + 4am bedtime = i am getting too old for this but i still had lots of fun. speaking of getting too old, i'll be 31 in 20 days. and the belcourt is showing better off dead for the midnight movie, so if you like that movie and/or me, you should come!

pie time

i spent the better part of sunday afternoon making this bad boy. it's probably a good thing that apricot season doesn't last longer, or else i'd be tempted to make it more often. a good mixture of tart and sweet, and the hazelnut topping adds a little saltiness to it too. i didn't change anything about the recipe, except i shortened the cooking time (even still, the bottom of the crust got a little burnt).

apricot-raspberry pie with hazelnut streusel topping

we watched the diving bell & the butterfly last night...very, very good. earlier in the week i watched persepolis. please share any movie recommendations with me. i've hi-jacked the netflix account for the time being. i think i need something without subtitles next...