Recent things

I just crocheted this whale as the beginning of an x-mas present for my sister-in-law. I need to iron it but I think it could be the beginning of a scarf or a pillow or something of that sort.

In other news...

Kevin and I recently made this baked egg dish after having something similar at a pastry shop in Brooklyn.

I also made this challah for Thanksgiving. 

It started like this...

and ended up like this ...

Kevin made some delicious brussels sprouts (they are somewhere near the potatoes here) 

This just in: Kevin looks cute in Thanksgiving argyle.

egg in the hole

I have been making lots of these lately.

Brunch: eggs and potatoes with thyme

pea shoot pizza

before

after

plus

Sorry, Jessie.

Light and fluffy waffles...

topped with strawberries and sugar...

are not for dogs. 

Kevin's Birthday Cake: Lemon Lemon Lemon

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Blend the wet ingredients. Add milk and dry ingredients.

Pour into two buttered baking pans that have been dusted with flour and bake.

Prepare the lemon curd. Cover with wrap and refrigerate for one hour

Fold the curd into whipped cream and refrigerate until assembly.

Prepare the lemon butter cream. I added a bit of natural yellow (organic confectioner's sugar can be a little off white, giving the frosting a grayish tint).

Chop white chocolate into shards. Zest a lemon and combine with white sugar sprinkles. To make letters heat a bowl of water (no more than 122 degrees) and milk chocolate shards in a plastic bag or pastry bag. Make sure to squeeze out all of the lumps.

Pipe chocolate letters onto parchment or wax paper and sprinkle with sugar crystals. Refrigerate until assembly.

Cut the dome of of the two layers of cake. Place lemon curd filling on one layer, leaving a one inch border. Place the second layer over the first and coat with butter cream. Prepare whipped cream by whipping one cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Place the whipped cream in a pastry bag with a large closed star tip and pipe large and small soft rosettes around the border.

Sprinkle white chocolate shards in the middle of the cake and place chocolate letters around the border.

I made an additional large "K" so Kevin's piece would be special.

Sprinkle the lemon zest/sugar mix over the cake for additional sparkle.

recipe here

recent Jovin meals

Very tasty vegetable stir fry with roasted peanuts and soba

Made by Kevin

Rather bland pasta bake consisting of nearly everything in Josie's freezer

"You can't win them all."

Swedish Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Are you a fancy person who enjoys taking fashion risks and baking exotic sweets? If so, these Swedish chocolate chip cookies might be
your JAM!

   This recipe comes to 1of4 from Sweet and Savory Swedish Baking, a wonderful book Josie paid full price for at Reading Terminal Market while vacationing in Philly with her lover.  Lime zest, plentiful chunks of 60% chocolate, and oatmeal form an extra weird batter.

After mixing, the batter gets rolled into a log, wrapped in parchment paper, and placed in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing.

When the cookies come out they may seem a tad awkward, but look again! their flat little bodies are hiding some pretty complicated intense flavors.  

Something tells me this is probably true of most Swedish things...

contact Josie for the recipe

Homesick tree

Snack for Kevin...

Parmesan and red pepper flake drop biscuits

Leftovers for Josie...
Stir fry with slivered almonds over brown rice noodles

Work in progress...

House tree.
Maybe it misses it's Mother?

something

something Kevin did...

Braid: Kevin, Head: Josie

something Josie did...

 Sprout Pizza

something Jovin did... 

Macbook Photobooth

tex mex gazpacho

with black Russian grilled cheese sandwiches

been cookin up and/or eatin up a storm

zucchini + yellow bell pepper + corn

awesome pizza w/ veggies, mozzarella, goat cheese, gruyere

delicious key lime pie + fancyberries

shark cracker and double moon crackers

everything was delicious and filling.