A Souffle Kind of Day...

I had a 50% off coupon to a really nice cooking store in Atlanta, and I had to use it before it expired. So I may have gone a little crazy and bought a bunch of random items that I would never have bought without a coupon. Including... two souffle cups! They're so cute, I just want to store all sorts of cutesy things in them :)

I thought I'd attempt souffles, ever since I had seen a gorgeous cloud souffle online. But first, I researched what exactly a souffle IS (besides just being French). Turns out, it's the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up", an apt description of what happens to the combination of custard and egg whites. Thanks Wikipedia!

I first tried a strawberry souffle that tasted pleasant but did not "poof" whatsoever. I was an idiot and followed the recipe exactly. Only later, I realized it didn't call for any custard (or cream) and that must have made the difference (Note to self: research and then try to retain what you read!). You really want it to rise (and later fall) much like the Roman empire... wow my jokes are terrible. I apologize.

Dear Athens, GA

A couple weeks ago, I made the trek to my old college town (and by trek I mean driving 50 miles down 316 fearing those super sneaky Athenian cops). I went with my bff J, my college roommate Pat, and we met up with my other college roommate, David. It was fun, and made me just slightly nostalgic for old times.

I wouldn't say that I hated Athens, but it wasn't my favorite place. In hindsight, I realize I should have picked a smaller school, and probably not run home every time I felt a bit lonely or shy. I did enjoy the classes, loved some of the professors, and liked my general routine of the day. Athens was where I learned to share one small room with another person, later to pay bills and worry about things like groceries for the week, and bus routes. I also met a lot of interesting people like Pat and David, and was lucky enough to indulge in the amazing dining hall of UGA. I miss those chocolate chocolate cookies. Don't get me started on those.

The best part of Athens? I'd say the food, thrift stores, and quirky people (beyond just the frats and sororities dominating the area). It's a college town, through and through. You can't go anywhere without seeing young people. Summer is the best, since they're far and few between and downtown is more peaceful. Athens has some great restaurants, like the 5&10, Last Resort, Casa Mia. Not to mention the 8E's Bar, featuring music from my favorite decade. On this particular trip, we headed to my all time favorite place for fish tacos, Cali & Tito's!

I combined the 2 pics I took of the place together... trippy.

Pandan Cake

I made this for my bff J, who recently found out she got into medical school! I'm so happy for her, and so happy I know so many future doctors now :)

7-Layer Jello

In all the excitement for my mom's birthday last week, it suddenly occurred to me what she loves at every crappy buffet... JELLO. I like jello, but it's never really my choice of dessert... This recipe really is a fun way to eat jello though (in layers or in one giant bite, which way would YOU like it?) although it's a pain in the bum to make.

Vanilla Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

My mom's birthday is coming up! And I really wanted to bake her something. I had a cake in mind that had chocolate in it, but then I thought I'd ask her what she really wants. To my surprise, she actually said no chocolate, but mint and vanilla!

Lavender Sponge TeaCake

I used to love sponge cake when I was a kid... until I found out how much butter my aunt put in it.

Mother's Day

My mother's day celebration consisted of:

Old friends I hadn't seen in ages stopped by, and of course I forgot to take pictures because I'm so food-focused :(

And my sister made a fabulous chocolate cake in the shape of a purse! She made a clutch to go with it but that was eaten before it could be photographed. In any case, we found a great admirer of the cake who was more than happy to pose with it...

Monkey Bread!

I don't know why this is called monkey bread; maybe it should be monkey brains instead since I'm guessing that's what it resembles... (this reminds me of how in a Simpsons episode they joke that Indians eat monkey brains, so I guess I should know, har har)

Bubble Tea!

I love bubble tea. Little tapioca balls at the bottom of a delicious milk tea. I started off loving smoothies and then moved to the more mature black and green teas with milk and sugar. I especially love putting coffee jelly in there. I usually go to my favorite place in Atlanta and get all this for $2.50. But it's so far away from my house now!