Tardis Hat!

This was commissioned for my sister's friend Racquel. It was a lot of fun to watch her open it. I had to modify a pattern a few times; can't remember exactly which one it was, but this one looks pretty cute: Tardis Hat. The only pain is having to weave in all the colored string ends! The pompom was fun, though. Try it out!

Toffee Crunch Bars

As Piper so eloquently put it, these cookies are a "taste adventure." Don't be fooled by their rather uninspiring looks. These pack a wallop of flavors--there's espresso, almond, chocolate and more than their fair share of delicious rich buttery goodness. There's no actual toffee in the cookie, but something about the interplay of the coffee and the almond...ahh. I had originally made these for dessert, and kept noticing the way my family members kept casually nipping through the kitchen to grab another cookie.

Roasted Spring Vegetable Tart

Oh, this tart. It was going to do great things. I'm very sorry to say that despite my best intentions, this take on a spring veggie tart was very pretty to look at and assemble, not so impressive in the whole, you know, eating department. I figured, hey...we'll start out with a balsamic onion jam...layer some creamy tangy cheese in there...toss some oven roasted veggies on top and BAM! Unfortunately, it came out a little more like...meh.

But the crust was good! The recipe for that is below.

Blue

If there's anything more haunting and beautiful than Joni Mitchell's Blue, I haven't heard it yet. This was probably the fastest painting I've ever done, and I would very much like to think that it's because somehow this album has imprinted on my soul or something.

Derek Trucks

I've found that if you're really missing someone one way to feel a bit closer to them is to make them something. So a couple of days ago I made this little portrait of Derek Trucks, one of Peter's favorite guitarists. Derek Trucks is not only an awesome musician but also looks like he could easily moonlight as a Dungeonmaster. Win-win in my book.

Pink Peppercorn Macarons with Strawberry-Orange Jam

As promised, Hallie and I got together to stress bake again and some wonderful, wacky and delicious things resulted from our efforts. When it comes to Hallie's and my baking relationship, she's definitely the mad genius who's like, "I know! WE'LL MAKE A STEAK TARTARE LINZER TORTE! They'll never expect it!" and I'm the one who provides a lot of encouragement, writes down lists of the ideas she spews, occasionally buys fruit and sometimes pours the sugar into the mixer when her elbow's broken. Which it is right now.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of the best inventions of all time. Honestly, I'm not sure if there's anything more comforting than a big bowl of spicy chicken in creamy tomato sauce. Thank you, cuisine of India. You have done so much good in the world and for this happy little tummy of mine.

Molasses Spice Cookies

Sometimes, especially after a long series of mishaps, it's pretty wonderful when something, anything just happens to go right. It's been a tough couple of weeks, what with finals looming and two months having gone by since I've seen my boyfriend and then some bug or allergen or something decided to give me big ol' itchy spots ("Boy, this is piquing my appetite," I hear you mutter.) I'd also been tinkering around with new recipes and after a failed tart and a couple failed batches of cookies, things weren't looking (or feeling) too great. Until today. Like I should have known from the start, all's well that ends with molasses, brown butter, brown sugar and spices.

Voodoo Child

Jimi Hendrix for my rock god buddy Spencer.

Lavender Cheesecake Squares

Finally! I've been waiting to make this tasty little variation on one of my favorite cheesecake bars for some time now. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing about creamy, tangy cheese and zesty lemon that a little hint of lavender can't just tip over the edge into full-on deliciousness. The sweet, floral notes of the lavender perfectly compliment everything that's going on in this little bar--it's nice enough for an after dinner sweet and simple enough for a little decadent bright spot after breakfast on a rainy spring day. Not that I'd know anything about eating cheesecake for breakfast. Not me. 

Crown Jewel

A really lovely Christmas tradition. It's to the point now where my family typically doesn't make these anymore (our tree is pretty full), but I really can't wait to have my own living room and my own little Christmas tree someday and spend a couple nights making these with friends.

What Did I Do to be So Black and Blue?

My friend Tim loves Louis Armstrong and for a slender white dude he can do a pretty solid impression. So, naturally, this painting resulted.

Bay Scallop Pasta with Fennel and Orange

Once upon a time, I made a recipe for scallops with a tarragon sauce. While potentially delicious in theory, it called for so much tarragon that when all was said and done I felt like I'd just eaten fourteen pounds of licorice, followed by a scallop. Not good. So I've been a little wary of tarragon ever since. This has lessened somewhat as I've grown fond of the flavor potential of fennel and star anise (the duck leg in star anise broth at Portland's Aviary was a pretty transcendental food experience), so this pretty, light spring-y pasta dish is a little leap forward for me. And what a delicious, rewarding step it is!

Black Pepper Tofu

Okay, guys. Little Bunny Tofu (for an explanation of this bizarre analogy, please see here) has survived at the zero hour. This tofu was pretty transcendent, largely because you could barely taste any tofu at all. All the spices and comforting warmth of the shallots and green onions got in a marimba-conga line together and just sashayed their way around the pan and into my tummy. This dish is bursting with flavor and heat and is exactly what you need on a cold, rainy, thunderstorm-y night.

Mini Triple Berry Pies

Don't let the cute faces fool you. These little mini pies were a bit of a beast to make (admittedly, because at the same time I was making Hot Cross Buns and Cherry Brown Butter Bars). Again, it was my own fault--I was going to make a nice, perfectly easy, perfectly respectable pie but then I darted out of the kitchen with an insane grin on my face and announced to Piper that I was going to make the pies TINY and put LATTICE TOPS over ALL OF THEM! Then Piper had to come crack my back because I had been latticing tiny pie tops for two hours.

But these are cute. And their lattices are tiny. And they did taste good.

Halloween Musings...

Well, really one musing. When in doubt, grab a $2 kit of facepaint from HEB, a rose hair clip, a black corset, and make yourself into a Day of the Dead skeleton! Easy as pie, but slightly scarier.

Garlic Noodle Bowl

You know the song about Little Bunny Foo Foo? Hoppin' through the forest, abusing field mice, etc.? That's sort of how my relationship with tofu has gone. Not so much eating it, but cooking with it. I like the idea of it but after a disastrous attempt at Black Pepper Tofu (hopefully to be vindicated later this week) and now this, I feel like it gets one more chance and then I'm-a float down like that good fairy and turn it into a goon. Little Bunny Tofu.

Side note for those who are interested in the Black Pepper Tofu incident: I couldn't get the top of the tofu box open so I resorted in stabbing it repeatedly like that one scene from Psycho and then the too-soft tofu started oozing out and all over me and the kitchen and I gamely persisted in trying to coat the goo with cornstarch before I got some on my foot and then called my sister to pick up some shrimp.

Cherry Brown Butter Bars

Guys. I made these things and they are sort of a big deal.

I'm definitely in the "it's always better with browned butter" camp. I was converted after having a bake-off with my brown-butter brownies (which are going to have to be put up here pretty soon) against my mother's traditional brownie recipe. The judges said it was a draw, but I'm pretty sure they only said that because you don't anger the person who's just made you a bunch of brownies. Anyway, I'd been ogling these little beauties over at Smitten for a good long while when my good friend Katrina invited me to her family's Easter barbecue. And then, since I couldn't decide whether to make hot cross buns, mini tarts or these bars, I made them all. Because why not? Someone's gotta support the butter industry.

Sweet and Salty Shrimp Rice Bowl

Food, like music, is infinitely adaptable. Take a recipe--add a little of this, take away a little of that and you've got an entirely new riff on a dependable classic, sort of like the blues version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. This dish is a bit like that. Throw in a little honey here, a little fish sauce there, add some kale and cook it down and voila! You've got yourself a delicious, simple, healthy (and cheap) weeknight meal.