A parade of foods

Well, since I have been so lax about posting for the past couple of months, I've had a lot of photos log up into a giant, quivering mass hiding somewhere on my boyfriend's computer, since he is the one with the magical camera and all. Of course, now that I have started writing in my blog again, I have developed all of these incredible plans of crafting and sewing and embroidering, which involve me purchasing somewhere around 20 yards of fabric that I don't really need unless I do end up completing these grand plans. Phew.  It's so exhausting, I wasn't able to make any progress this week, other than planning. I'm not even going to bother making promises—they will happen or they won't.

Anyway, back to the subject, which is one of my favorite subjects, might I add: food. Delicious, succulent, savory, sweet, rich, scrumptious, delectable, toothsome, wholesome FOOD. Food is one thing I can say with certainty that I would surely die without. Anyway, since I've made quite a lot of delightful and enticing treats, I figured I'd put in a cut, then begin my little food parade.




Since I was going to be working on filming a test movie with Wax Idiotical, I decided to bake some cupcakes. Since I had read and drooled about Bake It in a Cake's Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes, I just had to give them a try:

Ok, I admit it: I nibbled, not cut, to get it perfectly in half.

I think they came out quite splendidly. They were delicious, and lasted ages.

Next up: beef empanadas:

You can see me in the tea kettle!

I think my dad was over when I made these? I am not really sure. I am sure that I just completely made up a recipe after looking at approximately 18 thousand other recipes, and decided that none of them were exactly was I wanted. They were fantastic. I cheated and used premade pie crust though.

Date night time!

Candlelit dinner for two.

I don't really remember why we decided to have a cheese and wine-type dinner, but it was fabulous and romantic. Also, incredibly easy. I love laying out platters and salads in fancy ways for reasons that I cannot begin to explain (because I don't know them), and so laying out the bread, cheese, apples, and grapes was very gratifying.

Another dinner for two, this time, pappa al pomodoro with chianti:

Lookin' fancy!

My boyfriend actually did the bread and tomato and basil thing on the plates; I did the fancy soup configuration there. FYI, if you are not familiar with pappa al pomodoro, it is stale bread soup with chunky tomatoes and basil. (Ever had pasta pomodoro? Kinda like that, but with bread instead of pasta.) It is the ultimate comfort food—carbalicious, warm, and sticks to your tummy.

Ok, I think too much savory is happening in this parade. I think it's cupcake time again:

tropical party time!

These are pina colada cupcakes with lime cream cheese frosting that I made for my friend's End-of-Summer party. I used I'll Eat You's Man with a Tray cupcakes recipe, and added a considerably greater amount of coconut rum in the syrup the cupcakes are soaked in. Yum!

You may be thinking now, 'Wow, this is a really long post. It will probably be over soon, right?' Wrong. This is going to be a while. You should probably take your bathroom break now. And also get a snack, because I don't know about you, but writing this is making me soooo hungry.

Next up: roasted pumpkin!

No picture of after it was baked because we ate it all.

For a couple weeks before Halloween I kept an adorable little sugar pumpkin in my cubicle. On the Friday before Halloween, I left work with my adorable little sugar pumpkin tucked safely under my arm. I took it home, butchered it, covered it in brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, and baked the crap out of it. It was heavenly.

And here's a little bit of an action shot of me in... action... >_>

The nice kitchen belongs to my bf, not me. :(

I'm making some kale with balsamic vinegar (my most favoritest veggie to eat ever) and pork tenderloin with a savory strawberry sauce that is my own recipe. Maybe I will post it on my food.com recipe book and share it with y'all—it is wonderful and easy. Plus, who can go wrong with a recipe that has brandy in it, amirite??

This one is mostly because it is a neat picture:

That's me holding another favorite topic: booze.

This was actually an attempt at a mai tai that went all sorts of wrong. I read the recipe, which included lime juice. So, I added lime juice. Simple, right? Wrong. It was sour and horrible and did not make me think of languorous lounging on a beach like it should have. So I added a crapload of grenadine and a couple cherries, and all was well. Then later I figured out that the recipe actually meant sweetened lime juice, not the straight juice I had used. It tastes a lot better when I make it now, but doesn't look as pretty.

MOAR CUPCAKES!

Made for my dad's birthday

I actually made these somewhere around forever ago and just never posted the picture, so I figured I would do it now. They look so pretty! How could I not share!?

Ok, are you ready? Cause this is the last one. For now. Unless I find some more pics and decide to insert them in the parade because I am mean.

Tapas!

For Valentine's Day Dinner with my boyfriend, I got lazy and decided we were going to do "tapas." Namely, Trader Joe's pastry pups, TJ's feta cheese and carmelized onion puffs, and my should-be-famous wine-soaked strawberries on cheesy bread. Maybe they would be more famous if I thought of a shorter name. Maybe, snorfles? I certainly snorfle them down whenever they're in my presence. Heh. 

Anyway, vague future plans include embroidery, quilts, dolls, clothes, and tote bags. I'll keep y'all posted. Probably.