Slow Cooker Asian Spiced Pork Ribs with Noodles

The past few months I have pretty much not cooked. I was flipping through my Cook's Illustrated Cover & Bake when I came across a particularly appetizing photo and panicked... it was a Chinese food recipe. It's been a long time since I've attempted Chinese food. Last time I managed to burn noodles. For whatever reason, I was feeling particular inspired last weekend...who knows why. And what do you know? Victorious. Oh so victorious. Supposedly they are reminiscent of real Chinese spare ribs. Super tasty and did not take that long to get all of it together (granted I took my time in consideration of my last attempt at Chinese food).

LAN Party (And Cupcakes)

Went to a LAN party over the weekend... so of course I had to make something for the boyos. Cupcake Project's "Chocolate Peanut Butter Hi Hat Cupcakes" seemed to do the trick.

A Farewell for My Amazing Boss

My boss is leaving to work for another company and as a farewell, I asked him what his two favorite cupcake flavors were: chocolate and cherry. I set out to make black forest cupcakes, but I didn't want to use stock maraschino cherries, I went all the way. I made both cupcakes, cupcake filling, and maraschino cherries.

First Attempt:
I accidentally simmered the maraschino cherries for too long. A lot of them fell apart when I tried to take them out of the container.

 Second Attempt:
I changed the frosting for this batch. The Luxardo maraschino liqueur was too harsh for a frosting in my opinion. I substituted with 6 tbsp of Herring's Cherry liqueur.

Easter Dinner & Mom's Day

Most of my family was out of town this year for Easter, but I made a easy-ish dinner for Mike, my dad, and I. Turned out pretty well. I hadn't made ham in years.

My mom was out of town for her birthday unfortunately, so I went to town on her mother's day cake. I ended up with a layered carrot cake and some homemade vanilla ice cream. The carrot cake didn't end up with as many layers as I wanted because I didn't have the right sized pan. It ended up still being delicious though. Wasn't as much of a fan of the frosting as I was for her birthday cake last year.

Carrot Layer Cake

Pi Day in Conjunction with St. Patrick's Day

So... apparently I forgot to post my pi day cupcakes and St. Patrick's Day dinner. So sorry guys!

I didn't want to have to make separate cupcakes for both holidays. That's way too many cupcakes in the span of 3 days. Cupcake Project had posted upside-down key lime pie cupcakes for pi day a bit ago. As a Southern girl, those had a very strong appeal. Granted, it takes an arm and a leg to find key limes around here this time of year.  They turned out supreme even though I used ordinary limes.

As far as St. Patrick's Day goes, Mike had never had corned beef before. I felt oddly inspired to try making it this year. I also made purple cabbage, carrots, and roasted potatoes (a meal inspired by one of my best friend's chemist girls' nights events). I even made some quick homemade rolls. I must say, best meal I've made for us in a very long time.

One thing to note is that my purple cabbage is blue. It turns out, that red cabbage can be used as an at home pH kit. If your cabbage is blue, your solution is basic; if your cabbage is red, your solution is acidic. I've also noticed, that in cabbage recipes, people tend to add some vinegar; this helps it retains its red/purple color.

Pi Day is Almost Here!

Pi Day is just around the corner. Comment on this post to tell me what type of pie I should make this year. ^_^

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day All!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I have group meeting at work. I cannot justify going to a meeting on a holiday without bringing some cupcakes. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I decided I wanted to eat hot tamales in cupcake form.

Throughout the search I found two types: #1: cayenne pepper and cinnamon #2: melted red hots...

I ended up doing a combination of the two. The actual cupcake uses the cayenne pepper and cinnamon and the frosting uses cinnamon schnapps. However... I topped it with gummy red hot hearts and sprinkles. They definitely have a kick and I will definitely have to bring a jug of milk to work tomorrow. (The actual recipe was taken from the Food Network.)