Not Muffins

January 19, 2015

So, one of my friends caught wind of my baking frenzy and started sending me recipes that I should try, aka make for him. They actually turned out pretty well and were fun to make though!

Unusual recipes but man were they good. The s'mores bark was so easy to make and tasted great. I ended up making them without graham crackers because they're so thick with them but they do add a good layer of flavor. The marshmallows were a little more fun when they were the mini rainbow kinds because of the variation in fruity flavor. Regardless, they're super easy because you just pour melted chocolate over marshmallows and call it a day!

The Apple Pie Egg Rolls however, are a completely different story. Let's just say that years of making real egg rolls with my mom came in handy. While it's pretty time consuming to make them, they came out delicious and were really fun. They're like apple pies to go! Just add whipped cream to dip and they're great!

Muffin Monday Part 2

January 18, 2015

Since muffin monday continued onto fall semester of third year there are quite a few more recipes I tried. Here are the images.

Muffin Monday 1: Coconut Key Lime Muffins

Muffin Monday 2: Grapefruit Poppyseed Muffins

(Birthday) Muffin Monday 5: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes for my Birthday

(Birthday) Muffin Monday 6: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes — (Birthday) Muffin Monday 6: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

(Birthday) Muffin Monday 7: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes — (Birthday) Muffin Monday 7: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Muffin Monday 10: Ham and Cheese Muffins

Muffin Monday 13: Chocolate Salted Carmel Cupcakes

Muffin Monday

January 17, 2015

Second year I went through a break up. I spent fall/winter wallowing and tying to focus on school but by New Years I'd had enough. I was tired of thinking about it so I decided I would take up some hobbies to better myself. This was the year that I decided to be like the rests of America and vowed to work out, so I started going to the gym for the first time in my life. Even Now I still flip flop around and haven't stayed consistent with a schedule. Glad to know I fit in. The second hobby I picked up was baking; Usher in Muffin Mondays!

So after new years, I'm guessing by spring quarter, my schedule opened up and I didn't have classes on Mondays. I took this as an opportunity to spend the day baking. I would wake up Monday mornings ready to take on the world! (or at least the kitchen).

Muffin Monday 5: Banana Muffins and Banana Nutella Muffins

Muffin Monday 6: Apple Cranberry Muffins

I found a mini recipe book from a magazine. One of those inserts you find in food magazine or something of that sort. '50 muffin recipes'. I was determined to try making them all (okay maybe not ALL of them.. some of the flavors were a little odd and or were slight variations on each other.) Still, I was going to bake most of them! And I did. Then I didn't really stop.

Muffin Monday Week 8: Cherry Chocolate Muffins

I spent every Monday of 2013 baking at school. I tried to stick to the theme of muffin mondays but I varied with cupcakes for weeks where someone had a birthday or I found a cool recipe. I became the baking girl! People from high school would see me during breaks around Rochester and were so I'm pressed I found the time to bake every week.

My cousins now make fun of me a little but they all still beg for me to bake whenever they're in town or have special occasions. I've branched out to breads and pies, brownies and cakes. I haven't quite mastered things yet. Sometimes my baked goods are dense and I've been having problems getting the consistency of homemade frosting right but I'm still trying.

For me baking has become a cathartic thing. Who need's therapy when I can make a pie.

It's also made me quite a few friends. People see my food on social media and ask if they can come and have one. I would blast friends at RIT with snapchats telling them to stop by when I was pulling cupcakes out of the oven. I've set up mini dates inviting people to come over and help me make cookies.

Nothing beats when I'm in the kitchen by myself playing music and rolling dough with my hands. Baking has become my stress relief, my thing. My roommates may not like me tempting them with muffins but I could bake for days and never want to stop.

Muffin Monday 9: Chocolate Macaroon Muffins

For me baking has become a cathartic thing. Who need's therapy when I can make a pie.

Muffin Monday 13: Cider Connamon Muffins

S'mores Cookies

January 16, 2015

When I first found this recipe online I was beyond ecstatic. What this is, is a s'more stuffed chocolate chip cookie. Now, just to clarify, I love baking. As a little kid my mom used to sit us down in the kitchen with one of those little box cake mixes to keep us busy while she cooked and cleaned and was just being a mom. The odd part was that none of us really eat desserts. Honestly between me, my mom, and my dad, we could share one slice of cake and all still be satisfied. Those cakes usually ended up being eaten by my cousins or other relatives. Still, baking has stuck for me and been something I really enjoyed to do. More about that another time.

Second year of college, one of my best friends and I got into stuffing other desserts into chocolate chip cookies; s'mores, peanut butter cups, etc. I don't know if I ever finished one of these cookies but they sure are fun to make! I was saving this recipe for a fun occasion and summer after school was it. I was visiting my then boyfriend whom I hadn't seen in 2 months and i thought cookies would be cute surprise to bring with me as a thank you for letting me invade his hometown for a week.

What I didn't realize was that these cookies are massive. I mean it. Since there's a whole 'mini' s'more on the inside of the cookie, it didn't really flatten out too much. The marshmallows also caramelizes and kind of disintegrates. Still haven't figured out how to make them better. They ended up being rocks. He ate them and claimed that they tasted good and were totally fine. I'm pretty sure he was just making me feel better. I tried.

ROC - Garbage Plate Pt.2

January 15, 2015

There's a great line of little restaurants in Rochester. Cozy little places lined up next to each other with really great food and a fun atmosphere.

This happens to be a mexican restaurant called Dorado, and me being the fearless bottomless pit that I am decided that this plate would be a fun idea. Challenge accepted. The 'Plato Grande' is just a big mix of rice, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, tortilla chips, melted cheese, and my choice of meat aka chicken. Again this is a lunch with the same best friend who tackled the 13 minutes garbage plate with me but this time around she chooses something else. We also have our other best friend with us. The little lunch trio.

Proud to say that this plate is now one of our favorites whenever we frequent Dorado. This day was the first time any of us ordered this plate.

The outcome? 20 minutes. Not as fast as the garbage plate but still pretty impressive. I'm a champ!