Sugar Cookie Apple Pie Cups

Last year a career coach came to work and was trying to teach us to be better managers. He was pretty cool--normally that kind of stuff is horribly boring for me, but he was engaging and had an interesting story. Then the next day, we each had a one-on-one with him. I don't know what exactly pushed me over the edge, but in five minutes this stranger had me crying my eyes out and spilling my heart. (To be clear: I don't like sharing feelings with strangers, and I REALLY don't like crying in front of them.) We did some exercises designed to help me figure out my main motivations in life (ideally helping me figure out my perfect career), and one thing came up in every single scenario: I live to nurture.

It's at the heart of nearly everything I do. I cook and bake to take care of those around me (I rarely do it just for myself.) I plan and execute important events in people's lives. I try to stay close with my family and friends, and to be a good listener when they need one. In fact, nearly every thing that makes me happy is, at heart, an act of nurturing. Even these simple, half-homemade treats. I make them to make someone else happy, which in turn makes me happy. I'm genuinely lucky that the things that bring me joy are so attainable (even if I forget that once in a while.)

This one's for my sister. When I was coming up with the apple blackberry hand pies, sister voted for the sugar cookie-crusted apple pie. So incredibly easy, y'all.

Full disclaimer: the day I decided to bake these, I was incredibly distracted. But I put everything together, took the pictures, popped them in the oven, let them start baking...and realized I didn't line the muffin tins. Learn from my mistake--line the muffin tins. Or ignore this advice, "accidentally" make them impossible to share, and cuddle up with the whole pan and a spoon. Either way, they taste great!

Sugar Cookie Apple Pie Cups

Makes 16-20

1 batch sugar cookie dough

3 medium apples

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Prepare your sugar cookie dough as you normally do (or cheat if you want to hurry things along, and use store bought dough.) Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan. Spray the top of the muffin pan (the cookies will spread over the top.)

Core, peel, and dice apples. Stir together apples, cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg until evenly coated.

In each muffin tin, put a ping pong ball-sized drop of dough. Use your hands to press the dough into the bottom, and up all the sides, making sure there are no cracks, leaving a 1/4 inch gap at the top. Spoon the apple mixture into each tin. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges of cookie cups are golden brown.

xo
l

Breakfast +Bar Snacks

Mid November through New Years is, hands-down, the busiest time of year at work. 14 hour days, 7 day weeks, it's really just a matter of fighting to get through it. So needless to say, my first year, I assumed everyone blew off any kind of office Christmas celebration.

Wrong.

Suddenly the few days before Christmas, I was getting showered with gifts from coworkers for whom I had done nothing. When did they have time for all of this?!? When did they shop, and bake, and wrap? I barely had time to change clothes each day. I was pretty embarrassed when I had nothing for most of them, and frantically scrambled to find a quick gift for the people I absolutely needed to.

I didn't make that mistake this year. I found a half day off and whipped together this ridiculously easy, impressive, delicious treat, stuffed them into 24 mini mason jars, and handed them out like Santa. Everyone loved them (most were eaten the same day), and for once I felt like I beat everyone else to the chase!

Maple-Bacon Roasted Almonds

The ADDs of Baking

I can get pretty distracted when I'm getting ready to bake. This is how these hand pies were developed:

I'm gonna bake! What should I bake? Something with apples, it's fall. But it's 90 degrees so straight up apple is weird. Maybe berries? What kind of berries? I wish strawberries were in season I want strawberry shortcake. Blackberries? Blackberry apple pie. With lattice crust! No, with crumb topping! Wait, what if I made individual cupcake-sized pies? with crumb topping? No, with little hearts on top! Wait, what if I made hand pies? Wait, what if I made a "pie" with sugar cookie dough? Oh man. Do I have time to do all 5 of these? No...ok, call Katie.

And so the hand pies were decided upon. Sometimes I need reigning in. (I'm totally going to do that sugar cookie dough thing soon, though, so keep your eyes peeled.) 

These pies were awesome. They hit the spot, ushering in fall with some fresh honeycrisp apples, with a nod to our warm weather streak in the blackberries and lemon juice. They were also very cute, so that's a plus. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Apple Blackberry Hand Pies

makes 4

1 batch pie crust

2 honeycrisp apples

2 pints blackberries

juice of 1 lemon

2/3 c sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and chop apples. Combine apples and blackberries in a medium mixing bowl; if the berries are large, cut them in half. Stir in lemon juice and sugar; set aside. Beat the egg and set aside.

Divide pie crust into four equal portions. Roll out each portion into a large rectangle, until dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Spoon filling onto one half of the dough; wet edges of the dough and fold remaining half over, pressing to seal. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat for other 3 pies. 

Bake pies on a baking sheet for 30-40 minutes or until crusts are golden brown. Let cool slightly before eating. 

xo

l

Caramel Cake!

WOW. I'm the worst. Sorry it's been so long. Work picked up, and for a few weeks there, I forgot how to balance work and play. But I'm back, and hopefully I'll do better! My sincerest apologies go out to the two people who actually check this blog and called me out on not posting. I love you both.

So I mark my lackluster triumphant return with this killer Butter Caramel Cake. It's sinful. It's decadent. It's probably not healthy to eat more than one piece per year. But man, is it worth every bite. It should be a special occasion cake, a cake reserved for celebration--but the day I made it, I had no good reason. It's a labor of love, and there are few things I love more than baking. So why not just celebrate that in itself?

Fine, I give up. We all know I just really wanted a piece. Or three. Make it whenever you feel like it; waiting for a special occasion just guarantees today won't be special.

Blubarb Pie

I love pie. I love, love, love pie. I have multiple cookbooks dedicated to pies. I love them all: sweet, savory, chocolatey, nutty...but my favorite are fruit pies. YES. That's the ticket.

When brother and I were growing up, we didn't have birthday cakes, we had birthday pies. His was chocolate and amazing, and mine was strawberry and even more amazing (in my opinion. Ben, you're welcome to disagree. But you'll be wrong.) My mom shared these birthday pie recipes with me, but I had to make this one first.

We grew up with rhubarb plants in our backyard, and it. was. the. best. We had rhubarb everything: cake, jam, ice cream, ice cream sauce (which I ate by the spoonful), and so many pies! I can hardly ever find rhubarb in the stores down here, so when I do, I go a little nuts. 3 pounds later and no plans, I decided I needed to make a pie. But strawberry rhubarb is overdone (and I had no strawberries), so blueberry rhubarb it is!

the great thing about pie is it's hard to mess up. If you can make or buy a decent pastry crust, you're in good shape. This guy is super easy, with fresh rhubarb and blueberries, sugar, and vanilla. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Butterbeer Cupcakes: A Nerd Love Story

My sister just left after a great weekend visit full of...mostly nothing. We ran errands, went swimming, ate a lot, and baked these Butterbeer cupcakes. 

Little sister and I are both huge Harry Potter fans, and will do, eat, read, and watch anything that has to do with our favorite story. Two years ago we spent three days at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando, and they were arguably some of the best days I can remember (we even got selected for the wand demonstration. My life is complete.) While we were there we drank more than our fair share of Butterbeer and Pumpkin Fizz. So when I saw this recipe on AmyBites, I knew we had to give them a try. And I'm glad we did. They're as close to butterbeer as you can get outside Hogwarts, with a delicious butterscotch filling as a surprise. They're worth the time and effort, as evidenced by my sister's happy, rapid inhalation. Enjoy!

You Made What? Bánh Đùi Gà

Time for another round of "You Made What?", wherein I try to recreate foods that my brother is eating in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After seeing a picture of this one, I knew it had to be done. Bánh Đùi Gà, or Chicken Thigh Cake, looks incredible. But perhaps more importantly, I took one look at it and knew it could be translated into a super easy, quick, tasty weeknight meal. I took some creative liberties with this one, especially since there was no recipe to be found. But the result looks pretty similar, is pretty tasty, and took about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Off we go!

Bánh Đùi Gà (Chicken Thigh Cakes)

• 1 package puff pastry; I recommend Dufour
• 1/2 rotisserie chicken
• 1/3 c hoisin sauce
• 1 heaping Tbsp chili paste (to taste)
• 4 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
• cilantro

Defrost puff pastry according to the package's instructions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shred the meat of the rotisserie chicken and place in a medium bowl. Add hoisin and chili paste, and stir until combined.

Divide your puff pastry into large rectangles; if you're using Dufour, I divided one pack into four rectangles. These are huge. Spoon the chicken mixture onto each of the four rectangles. Fold up the back half of the puff pastry, then fold the sides over one another (like a burrito that's open on one end.) Spread on a greased baking sheet. Bake until pastry is golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Spread chili sauce over each warm cake so that it melts slightly, and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

I Lava These Cakes

I have a confession to make: I am not a huge fan of chocolate. I know the face you're making, I get it whenever I tell people this. It's just not my thing. I prefer a fruity snack. When I do have chocolate, it's usually got something else going on: a fruit, salt, or crunch component to shake it up.

But then my friend Carman sent me this recipe for molten chocolate cakes, and I knew I had to try them. You see, these little lovelies can be frozen and then baked off one by one, whenever you need one. How fantastic is that? And with the addition of a handful of berries, I've got my fruity/chocolate fix.


By the way, she got this recipe from a book called "Lunch In Paris: A Love Story with Recipes" by Elizabeth Bard. I haven't read it yet but she said it was amazing, so check it out if you can find it!

And with this, I'm headed out on vacation for a week! Up to the north woods, so no internet or blogging for me...but plenty of delicious cabin food. (Cabin food largely consists of various meats, cereal, ice cream, and carbs. What's not to love?) See you all in a week!

Hot Days, Cool...Salads?

We're in the middle of a pretty nasty heatwave. I can't complain, we've had worse. But a heat index in the 110-115 range is rough no matter how used to it you get. So Kirby gets lots of very short walks, my electric bill skyrockets, and I make a lot of salads that last a few days and taste delicious straight out of the fridge (no reheating required.)

This one features quinoa, fruit, nuts, a little cheese for creaminess, and a maple vinaigrette. It's exactly what I need on a day like this...well, that and an ice bath.

And on a personal note: yesterday was my last wedding of the summer! I have 5 whole weeks of freedom (from weddings) before the fall season begins. God bless August.

Quinoa & Cranberry Salad

Tasso Cheddar Biscuits

Yep. This happened.

My sister Katie and I spent a long weekend in New Orleans this spring--what I wouldn't do to relive those four days every weekend. We ate our way through an impressive city, and when we thought we couldn't eat another bite...nope, that never happened, we never thought we couldn't eat more. This is why we're sisters. Also because we live on opposite coasts but brought the same toothbrush and toothpaste.

This was nothing short of a miracle

We had some incredible food that weekend: an arugula salad topped with fried chicken, green olives, and lemon vinaigrette that blew my mind; the best strawberry shortcake in the world; and approximately 90% of the menu at what might be my favorite restaurant, Sylvain. But the one thing I wrote down to try to make myself was a tasso ham and cheddar biscuit at Commander's Palace.

So now it's 11:30pm, and I'm sitting up listening to my brother's awesome new mix (Brother is the king of all mixes), making tasso cheddar biscuits. These are pretty darn good. I'm sure I'll keep playing with the recipe until they're closer to those of Commander's Palace, but these will certainly do in the meantime (in other words, they're bangin' and I've already had three.)

Tasso Ham & Cheddar Biscuits

• 1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 5 Tbsp butter
• 1 c milk
• 1 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 c finely diced tasso ham or pancetta

The Best Corn You'll Ever Eat

I finally had a day off, and decided to head west and see what there was to see. It turned out to be a pretty great day, despite some nasty heat; a friend and I had an amazing lunch at the Wine Kitchen, went to one of the most fascinating stores I've seen in a while (DMVers, head to Old Lucketts Store as soon as you can!), and had a killer homemade peach jam pop tart to top it off. On the way home I swung by a farm stand and picked up some sweet corn.

It's as good as it looks.   

My sister (at heart) Katie texted me yesterday and reminded me about a dish I love, but haven't made yet this summer. I swear I  could eat a giant bowl of this without stopping. Corn is amazing, no?  The best part is you really don't need to do much to make it a  pretty, delicious, crowd-pleasing dish. Or take a play from my book  and make enough for a crowd but eat it all yourself, glycemic index  be damned.

Peaches For You, Peaches For Me

It finally cooled down around here, so Kirby and I went on an awesome hike this morning. In this case, "awesome" means that Kirby didn't roll in any mud puddles, randomly bark at any men in hats, and is now exhausted and therefore an angel. My standards are low.

I needed a quick summery snack before heading out to work, so I grabbed one of the 9 peaches I bought (see my last post) and found some feta--super easy, looks fancy, tastes great!

Big Eyes, Small Fridge

I have a fruit addiction. It's bad, guys. I know it sounds like the least problematic addiction around, and maybe even pretty healthy, but think about it this way: There's absolutely no way one girl can eat 9 peaches, 3 grapefruits, 2 apples, 2 pears, a watermelon, two pints of strawberries, and a bag of cherries in the 4-5 day shelf life that it has once purchased. So I buy it all, then eat at a normal pace, and about 3 days in, I realize I've made a huge mistake.

Life is just a bowl of cherries!

Thanks heavens for baking.

This time the cherries were the ones neglected, so I had to come up with something to do with them. I made clafoutis--a flan-like dessert. It's delicious, and frankly you can pass it off as breakfast because of its eggy, custard-like texture. (I'm pretty good at justifying eating weird things for breakfast.)

You Made What? Taro Root Ice Cream

I live in Washington, DC. My brother lives in Vietnam. On his awesome blog, he has a series called "What Is It?", where he finds a mystery food, eats it, and tries to deduce what it is. In an effort to make him seem a little closer, I'm going to attempt to cook all of these things. Hilarity will ensue.

Up first: Taro Root Ice Cream! There was an entry before this, but baby steps, ok? Finding the mung beans and pandan leaf for Bánh da lợn will have to wait for another day.

According to Brother, taro root ice cream tastes a little bit like "grainy butter." Not a strong selling point. But his description slowly got better, and it has other advantages as well: 
1) It is purple, which is cute
2) I get to use my kitchenaid ice cream attachment

taro root and coconut cream: done!

3) It has relatively few ingredients, which are all readily available at H Mart

To the Store!

Cake Therapy

I'm glad you all found your way over here. There's not a lot you need to know about me: I work in the food & beverage/events industry, I have the cutest dog in the world, and perhaps most importantly, I am a happy cook and a stress baker.

What does this mean? Simple: When I'm happy, I love to cook. It makes me even happier. I get to be creative and make things up and play loud music and dance around the kitchen, and then, I GET TO EAT! It's a win/win.

When I'm stressed, I love to bake. I love measuring everything out just so and following each recipe just so and letting them bake for just the right amount of time, and I know without fail that if I follow the instructions (or the basic chemical laws of baking), I will succeed. It's the ultimate stress relief.