Jamie and I “met” on twitter a long long time ago, and got to emailing when she needed a bunch of signs and business cards made in a hurry for a charity event. Being the graphic design guru that I am (well.. I can get around alright, anyway), I was happy to help her out …
Baking
I’m away for the next five days or so in sunny Key West, FL. Several of my blogging buddies are filling in for me. First up: Tracy from SugarCrafter. Tracy and I first met at Big Summer Potluck last year, though I’d been a long time admirer of her site. I can attest to just …
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Disney enthusiast, or as my friend Amanda Tinney says, I’m simply a “Disney Peep”. One of my favorite restaurants at Walt Disney World is located at the Polynesian Resort, or as us Disney veterans refer to it as, “The Poly”. The Polynesian was created to pay homage to …
On Saturday, my nephew David turns 5. Five years ago, my husband and I had just disembarked from a cruise ship, and barely made it through customs (where cell phones are not allowed) when my phone began to ring. I answered it to hear both my mother’s tears, and Davey’s first cries too. There I stood, in the middle of a sidewalk at New York City’s cruise pier, crying my eyes out.
Four months later, I met Davey for the first time. We gathered at Canyon Lake, Texas, a place that my sister and I spent the majority of our childhood summers, spring breaks, and long weekends. Chellee and Jeremy walked out of their cabin, and put a little baby wearing only a diaper into my arms. He promptly threw up on me.
Today is Mother’s Day. I am not yet a mother, but three women who have shown me how it’s done leave me no doubt that I will be a strong one when the time comes. And when I falter, they will be there to support me.
Who am I talking about? My mother, my nanny, and my sister. Today, my post is about them. They are three of the most precious women in my life, for a myriad of reasons. I hope by the end of this post, they know how just how precious.
Hummingbird Cake is one of those recipes that’s uniquely Southern, and found nearly every springtime at someone’s baby shower, wedding, or barbecue.
Rumor has it the cake’s name comes from its over-the-top sweetness – so sweet that there’s no way a hummingbird could resist it’s sugary lure.
Personally, it reminds me a lot of carrot cake, but instead of getting its sweetness from carrots, it gets it from fresh pineapple, ripe bananas, and warmly roasted walnuts. They’re each equal stars of this show.
You might be looking at that photo and thinking to yourself, “Amber, that’s just another chocolate chip walnut cookie. Yum, but, come on! It’s been done!”. Well, my friend, you’d be right, except that that right there is a Levain Bakery chocolate chip walnut cookie, that I made at home.
The Levain Bakery is famous in this area, and honestly, beyond. It’s been the subject of New York Times articles, Food Network Shows, and many a food blogger discussion.
These cookies, they’re special. They’ve got weight. They’ve got this outer.. shell, for lack of a better word. When you bite into the cookie, the outer layer has a crunch to it, a bite. But it’s ever so slight, and gives way immediately to a texture somewhere between cake and chewy that I thought I’d never be able to duplicate.
Today, Green Mountain Coffee is featuring my recipe for Wild Mountain Blueberry Coffee Pound Cake with Blueberry Coffee White Chocolate drizzle sauce. It’s a mouthful in more than one way, and OH so delicious.
Would you like to win Wild Mountain Blueberry coffee to go in the recipe?
The call to arms went out from @Scharffenberger via Twitter: @SeriousEats had just posted a homemade bagel recipe to their website, SeriousEats.com. Who would be willing to try making chocolate chunk bagels using Scharffen Berger\’s baking chunks?
My hand (and @ reply) went up faster than you can say gourmet chocolate. I was first introduced to Scharffen Berger at BlogHer Food in October of last year. Before that, I wasn\’t aware it existed. My life has improved markedly since that sunny day in San Francisco, if you hadn\’t guessed. Good chocolate can certainly be attributed to some of that. Scharffen Berger chocolate is beautiful, perfect, pure. It\’s my favorite chocolate to bake with, and its quality is worth every stinkin\’ penny.
I believe peanut butter is the perfect food. My husband would disagree, but I truly think it is. Full of protein and good fats, it goes well with bread, apples, or even chicken when turned into satay sauce. When Snickers came out with their new Peanut Butter Snickers, I practically jumped for joy, and the brightly wrapped candy bar went into my CVS basket faster than you can say “check out”.