Coconut Tarts with Chocolate Filling

About an hour before I was done at work on Thursday, one of my coworkers came up to me and asked me what I was bringing the next day. I stared at her with a blank look, I had NO idea what she was talking about. Apparently, everyone had been sending emails about our boss's birthday party on Friday, planning a potluck for lunch in the office, and they all forgot to add my name to the email list. So I had no idea until the day before. Sigh, I think I am quite forgettable in this office. They felt really bad, but it really wasn't a big deal; I'm just glad I didn't find out the day of!

So to whip something up super quick (I also had macarons to make for JBS), I looked up a recipe that I had bookmarked for a long time. I was waiting for a dinner party or some event to go to so I could make it, and here was my opportunity!

Nathan's Hotdogs + a Rant About Salt

When I went to St. Louis this past weekend, I was starving while waiting for my flight at the airport, and I ate at the nearest food kiosk, which just happened to be Nathan's hotdogs...

I really don't eat hotdogs very often, but that was seriously the best hotdog ever. They forgot to give me a ketchup packet and I was bummed because I had too much baggage to drag it all over to ask them for it. So I settled for just mustard and it was soooo yummy! Everyone needs to seek one of these out in the US, apparently they're the hotdogs used in hotdog-eating competitions...

So when I got back from STL, I found out there was a Nathan's down the road from me and J and I met up there to try it out. The lady at the counter put ketchup and mustard on there for me, and gave me packets as well. I didn't get to open the container till I got in my car (only outdoor seating and too cold outside) and when I did, i saw this:

Bakeshop Outing

So I stopped by Bakeshop the other day, which is a bakery on Peachtree Rd. I thought I'd see what it was about since it has some pretty decent reviews on Yelp, and I love me some baked goods! 

I got a chocolate almond croissant and a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. The croissant was great, reminded me of walking through Paris with my two best friends in winter. It had the perfect amount of almond paste and chocolatey goodness inside.

Lovey-Dovey Cakes

Before I went to St. Louis, I thought I'd make some heart-shaped cupcakes for JBS and his friends. Now, JBS LOVES coconut, especially in desserts, and I definitely can't understand that. I love coconut in food but not so much in my desserts. It's always chewy and gets stuck in your teeth (what's up with that, coconut?!) but anyway, for his sake, I thought I'd find the best coconut recipe I could online and make it..

Turns out Ina Garten's coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting is very very popular...

So i made those.

 

(psst, it's the one on the right)

A Weekend in St. Louis

I had such a great past weekend in St. Louis that I was a bit sad to come home. I got to spend time with JBS and his friends, and it was very relaxing/fun.

 Besides all the movies and Rock Band 2 we played, we also made time to cook and eat out, so here's a look back in food!

On Friday for brunch, we went to this place called 'The Rooster', which specializes in crepes. We had a coupon and had to order $25 worth of food to get $10 off. We ended up ordering four dishes that were so big in portion that the waiter joked that he felt like he was setting up an eating competition for us...

Dark Chocolate Ganache Strawberry Yogurt Cupcakes

My sister got me this book for Christmas, along with an assortment of baking supplies, and it was one of the most thoughtful gifts ever :) And it's funny how we both got into baking at the same time and currently live in the same building, so we can share all our supplies as well!

So the other night my friend and old roommate Pat came over for dinner. I didn't make anything special, but was craving my favorite Chinese dish of all time, tomato and egg! We made some with noodles and ate heartily over some good conversation.

Then we perused the book my sister gave me, and I remembered that my mom had bought a giant container of nonfat yogurt before she left for India, warning me that I had better eat the entire thing since yogurt is good for me... So naturally, we decided to make the yogurt cupcakes.

Mango Macarons + View of ATL

Sigh, I was not having a very good Saturday morning this week.

I moved into our new condo in Buckhead, Atlanta, and thus had to adjust to a new oven and a new kitchen.

My mom is going to India for a month, and I wanted to send some sweet goods for my cousins there. I won't mention what I made since it's a surprise for them, but needless to say, I wasted many batches trying to figure out the oven temps. Also, none of the flour we have is labeled, and apparently we have many different kinds of flour. All this plus the fact that we didn't bring all our kitchen stuff over yet so I couldn't find my vanilla extract, or my buttermilk. Basically, it was a disaster.

Blueberry Filled Vanilla Sponge Cuppycakes!

Jbs, (little) Debby, and I made these Blueberry Cupcakes. Well, we all worked together but I was getting increasingly frustrated with the blueberry filling that just kept spilling out of the pastry bag when we tried to fill the cupcakes! Only JBS has that kind of patience. I was ready to dig a hole and just pour it in!

Since JBS's parents don't like ultra sweet desserts, and his grandpa has diabetes, we tried to keep the sugar to a minimum. We made a simple vanilla sponge cake and then made the same blueberry filling I made for the macarons (blueberries mashed with heavy cream and some sugar).

Winter Break... a Look Back in Food!

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I last wrote! Regardless, I've been eating up a storm in the last couple weeks. I haven't had as much time to bake since my family is in the process of moving to a condo in midtown ATL from the suburbs. But in between working and the move, I still managed to catch up with long-lost friends and I discovered new places around Atlanta.

Blueberry Macarons

These blueberry macarons were definitely the best. Props to JBS for giving me the idea! I bought small box of blueberries at the store, and still have some left over, so there will be more blueberry baked goods and blogging coming up!

Anyway, I stuck by the tried and true recipe of macs for this one and just dyed them violet.