Robb + Jessie Married & in the Badger State
Golden
I turned 25 on May 25th. It was my golden birthday. Not to mention I am now a quarter of a century old, as my father-in-law reminded me. (And I can finally rent a car!) I have been truly blessed by my friends and family.
On Monday morning, the alarm went off at 7:00 and I was greeted with a smile and a “Happy birthday” from Robb and a twenty pound gift on my tummy. Unwrapping it I discovered the most wonderful twenty pound book one could ever anticipate. While I may not cook every recipe in the book in a years time (like Julie & Julia), I think it will make for good bedside reading and acquiring new techniques.
Robb made us coffee while we got ready and then handed me another gift at 7:30 –- a blindfold! He proceeded to cover my eyes and lead me to the car. We drove around Madison until he was completely satisfied in my disorientation. While we drove around, he gave me another tiny wrapped gift to “keep me occupied.” We played 21 questions and I was still clueless by the time we arrived at our destination. Pulling off my blindfold, I discovered it was a tiny white cardboard box with something else inside… It happened to be a part of the second gift. (It was a roll of b&w 120mm film). Is it a toy? Is it a camera? What exactly is a Holga? That is what I intend to find out as I make some modifications to it in order to make it into a nifty artsy camera. Hurrah!
We enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the new Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery on the Eastside. (This is Madison’s first and only “cupcakery”). Robb had some hearty whole wheat pancakes and I treated myself to a french toast strata (delicious) and a cupcake to go.
We also attended Bratfest and helped to contribute to the new World Record of 208,752 brats consumed (we ate one each). The Vincills had us over for a delicious birthday fiesta complete with every sort of grilled food imaginable for our fajitas and for dessert homemade vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip cookies (my favourite). What a great night full of laughter, friend, and food! On our way home, Robb asked me how this birthday ranks among all of my 25 years. This one was definitely at the top.
Fairy Cakes
I am not sure why, but I have always had troubles making cupcakes. I can make them, sure, but I couldn’t make them taste good. And then I found Nigella. I am sorry that lately this has been turning into a Nigella-Fancying blog, but does it matter? She makes delicious food that is easy (not that I don’t mind a challenge now and again).
Robb and I were trying to decide what to bring for our community group’s potluck and cupcakes just happened to be the first thing to pop into my mind. (Not to mention, I happened to have the ingredients already). I have mentioned that Madison does not have a cupcake shoppe like my favourite one in Seattle. So I have been deprived lately of a delicious treat.
Now the best thing about these cupcakes (from How to be a Domestic Goddess) is that you can make them in your food processor. I accidently didn’t let the butter soften enough and had to blitz the batter a bit longer than I would have liked. Somehow, even with my overmixing the cupcakes turned out fantastic. (Usually when you overmix cupcake or muffin batter it will form an unwanted peak on top and have a chewy texture because the overmixing causes gluten formation).
For the topping, I made my favourite quick frosting from The Joy of Cooking but instead of adding milk, I used the zest and juice from one orange. They turned out perfect, as you can see.
The Immortal French Chef
I am re-reading Julie & Julia this week.* This is the story of Julie Powell, one of the first food bloggers, who decided to cook her way through Julia Child’s famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in a year.
Today I pulled out a DVD of Julia Child’s cooking show, The French Chef and I fell in love. I cannot believe that I have had these discs for several years and haven’t watched them. Her show literally puts Food Network to shame.
Now, as I am snuggled in bed watching a few more episodes of the show, I decided to pull up the Wikipedia article about Mrs Child. I am shocked when I look at her birth and death dates. Which brings me to the reason for this blog post:
Seriously? 156? Someone can add. Perhaps what the author of the post intended was for us to realize the immortality of Julia Child’s legacy. While I do not have a copy yet (and I really would like one), I implore you to read Julia’s cookbook. Her intention was to teach Americans, regardless of class, age, gender, etc. to understand that French cooking techniques could be understood and applied by anyone. So please, get out there and master the art of French cooking. You too could be immortal like Julia.
*Note: Julie & Julia, the movie is coming out in August 2009. I cannot wait.