(This post was to emphasize the new focus on the photography of the blog, having already re-done the content [text] and the appearance [banner] for this year)
I really don't know what's wrong with the picture on the left. Not that anything is wrong with it, it's just in real life the frosting looked a lot darker. Besides that, I think it looks great. I was talking to my mother about what kind of cake Madina would like, and she told me that she really enjoyed to lemon cake I earlier this month (never posted). So I basically just took the lemon zest and extract out of the recipe and added two teaspoons more vanilla.
I think it turned out well. I like practically anything made with buttermilk, but cake especially. I also really liked the color contrast between the light cake and the almost black frosting. (Do you like the new photo window thingy? I just thought I'd keep going with what I mentioned last post about keeping things interesting with the pictures.)
So here is the "princess cake" that I made, and let me say it took about 4 hours from start to finish. Why Dominic? Are you seriously that slow?? No people, I had to make the marzipan from scratch. And while that might not take that long to make marzipan, it did that me that long to make almond paste from whole almonds. First I had to blanch them and then make a sugar syrup with water, sugar, karo. I had to peel 11 oz. of whole almonds, rough cut them, then put them in a non-exsistent food processor.
So let me tell all of you what I did next. Last year, my mother broke my first blender, so I got a second one. Yesterday as I go to use it in place of a food processor, I find that the top no longer fits onto the bottom. So what I had to do was hold the top down with one hand, and press the pulse button with another. After I mixed the ground almonds with powdered sugar, I waited until the sugar syrup reached soft ball and then it hit me: I don't have three hands. So I had to go upstairs and ask my grandmother to come help me. She slowly poured in the syrup while I held and turned on the blender. Eventually, this made almond paste and that helped me make marzipan. Anyway, four hours later it was dyed, molded, rolled out, and put onto the cake. (It was the same recipe as the vanilla cake.)
Side note: So before the cake, singing, and presents, we ordered Pizza from Papa John's. While I was eating my favorite pizza (onion and green pepper on flatbread), I noticed there was a strange seasoning packet in the box instead of garlic sauce. I was kinda disappointed that the best part was missing out of the box, but I was curious to see what this "mystery packet" was. 5 minutes later, I discovered it was gross. It tasted like crunchy, peppery old bay, and it reminded me of when I was 11 and I poured tons of "Mrs. Dash" on my noodles.
Blahhhh, I just had to post something because I've been a little non-posty recently. I should have something else up tomorrow, so until then, enjoy the picture of pizza. More tomorrow ._.
Starting with a photo?? And one that's out of chronological order with the rest of them?! *wags hand* Dominic you just keep getting more outrageous as the days go by! Ahhh....I'm losing my mind here. Without school, or any kind of work to keep me occupied, my brain has begun to atrophy. It's been over a month of leasure and I need to do something. I can't let the best part of my day be when someone brings home a different vegetable from the grocery store.
Besides realizing that I am slowly losing my mind, today Alex and I made pasta. This morning he said he wanted to do something with me, and so I asked him to look through a magazine and see what he wanted to make. He brought me a picture of pasta, so I ended up making papardelle with a red sauce. It sounds plain, but usually in this house the only sauce anyone eats is out of a jar, so it was nice to actually make a sauce from start to finish instead of heating or a bottle of prego.
I was going to do a white sauce, but then I remembered that yesterday, we bought some heirloom tomatoes from the store. My grandmother's friend mentioned to me a few months ago that at the farmers market downtown apparently they have some really nice green and red, and even purple and red tomatoes, so that's definitely something I'd like to go do as soon as it stops being ice cold outside. Anyway, above right is the beginning of the sauce which, I know, I should have used concasse(d?) tomatoes for, but it honestly slipped my mind.
So after I cooked the pasta, I added red wine to the sauce, let it reduce, and (the other reason why I made red sauce) I added the remaining stock leftover from the other day. I don't believe I posted it on here, but I made everyone risotto for dinner two days after I baked the apple pie. I didn't have any stock in the house, and Franiel was sick so he couldn't take me to the store, so I had to make it myself. I must say it turned out probably better than if I would've gotten it at Giant. Tangent Over: After it started to boil, I reduced it to a simmer then added the pasta. Everyone (that ate it) really seemed to enjoy it, probably because prego is just ground up tomatoes and onions and doesnt have stock or wine in it.
Someone should really give me a pat on the back or something for how consistent I've been with my posting recently. During the three week break I took from doing +discow+ I was actually thinking of announcing a hiatus while I explored the job market. Obviously that didn't quite work out, and as it seems this blog is the only thing revolving around food I have right now. So I'm sorry if I've been giving four crappy posts a week instead of one great one every few, but I need this so that I don't lose the desire to cook.
This was a very short post, but it's only because I'm leaving to go somewhere in a few minutes so I didn't have very long to type. I've also been working on new picture ideas (like the one above) to keep things interesting so it's not just square after square of mediocre food photography. So..... more tomorrow :)
So this was my lunch today. A green chile soup, two bread sticks, a milk, and a chocolate muffin. Sounds plain, but it was actually even more plain than it sounds. I have individual (gripes?) with each item here, so I will further explain with each picture. But first, allow me to say the helpless elderly persons prayer to hope for flavorful food.
Dear lord, I thank you for this bland, indifferently prepared meal and beseech
you to ignite some spark of compassion in my cold hearted (insert current
caretaker/relative here), that (he/she) might show some shred of mercy to me,
(his/her) wretched captive, Amen.
Me, being the "overly cautious for stupid things and not cautious enough for important things" person I am, got milk to drink because I thought that the soup was going to be super spicy. Unfortunately, it barely left in tingle in my mouth, although that's not to say it wasn't still good. It's just the quaint little description they gave led me to believe it was going to be hot; it was just a bit of a let down.
This is the chocolate chip muffin I picked off the pastry shelf for lunch. This is a very sad picture of said muffin. And do we know why? Because said muffin was a very sad muffin. It was burned people. I want to say I knew this when I bought it, but I didn't know that it was completley burned. So the woman at the register was staring at me as I reached into the little box to pick one of the muffins up, so when I felt that it was harder than a rock, I couldn't put it back without the whole "you touched it you bought it" argument. So I knowingly bought a burned muffin, and sat down and pretended to be surprised when I bit into it. You aren't fooling anyone Dominic...not even yourself /: So in the end I decided to smash it up like a 4 year old and leave crumbs all over the seat.
The bread sticks were perfectly fine. Absolutely nothing wrong with the bread sticks. They tasted even better when I dipped them into the soup. (WOW! No complaints?!)
Aaaaand this brings us to our final (crappy) picture, a magical fruit that I didn't know existed until today. At the grocery store I found some golden raspberries. The first box I picked up had mold all over them, so I took these home. Sorry about the smooshed one in the corner, I was going for something that obviously didn't quite work out. I just wanted to make a small little note about all the pictures in this post actually; I was surprised that I took such bad pictures in Au Bon Pain today because usually the sun shines right through the window and makes for a great food picture, but I guess today because it was sorta cloudy. Getting a new camera is on my long long list of things to do right now besides getting some new eyeballs. Blurrggghhhh.....More tomorrow!
The popovers where a lot simpler than I recall to make; just mix milk, eggs, melted butter, and flour, add some salt, and pour into a greased muffin tin. Ashley and I were going through some of my old pictures from last year, and apparently exactly one year ago yesterday, I baked popovers in my bp150 class (according to the pictures date). Then I remembered that we didn't have anymore flour, and that no one ever wants to take me to the grocery store for anything. So I began to entice the hungry Ashley with stories of how they are almost like a muffin and and omelet combined, mostly to get her to walk with me up the street so I wouldn't be bored, but also so that she could try them. Long story short, we walked to the store and bought flour, milk, and blueberries (more on that later). Fast forward two hours and we have popovers!
*Said with excitement continued from last paragraph* These are not the popovers! These are lasagna noodles, which I needed to start on while they were in the oven because the recipes are at two different temperatures. I decided against putting anything else other than cheese in it for fear that no one in the house would eat it if I added spinach like I wanted to. I also didn't have any herbs to add to the ricotta mixture, so it was just plain. I actually did not take pictures of the lasagna after it had just come out of the oven, but I did take one while it was on the plate....the thing is....I had already taken a large chunk out of it. At +discow+ I have posted enough mildly disgusting photos, so we don't need one more :P
These are the popovers!!...they look wet /: Anyway, we added cheese to half of them (not these), all of which got eaten. They went quickly....like 5 minutes quickly lol. The good news is that they don't take long to make so maybe I'll do it again tomorrow.
This was my lunch today. After my job interview I went to the Starbucks at the bookstore on the Avenue, and I originally intended to only get a drink, but I found three extra dollars in my pocket (pathetic) so I bought a pretzel too! Instead of the feta/spinach pretzel, which seemed dry, I got the pizza stuffed pretzel because I figured the marinara sauce would keep it moist, which it did. That's when I got the phone call about my "problem".
So later on today Ashley and I started another baking session in which we made blueberry muffins for dessert. I reheated the lasagna I made yesterday (which was intended to be eaten today, just incase anyone was wondering) while we measured and mixed for the muffins. Let me say that muffin mix has to be my favorite kind of raw egg using, unbaked, batter between cakes, cookies, and brownies. Especially muffins made with buttermilk (not these lol), because they have that tart with the sweetness thing. Anyway, here they are.
Okay, so onto the part that I'm sure everyone has skipped down to see how dramatic Dominic is being today. My job interview that was supposed to happen tuesday ended up being re scheduled for today. After I sat down and showed him my portfolio, he asked me if I really wanted this job.
I was shocked when he said that I was over qualified for the job (especially since I had never worked in a restaurant before except Ireland). I told him that I still wanted to work there, just to get my foot in the door. During the job interview, my age came up (like I was sure it would), and the man said it absolutely did not make a difference to him or the restaurant. So we did the whole "oh wow, how did you do that" thing that usually happens when people find out my age, and then he said he'd be in contact and I left.
However, while I was eating my pretzel (I had to spit out a piece to answer the phone), he said that he had some unfortunate news. He said that he spoke to someone in the department of labor to make sure I could work there, and they basically told him that I can't. Not just at that place, but pretty much in every kitchen. They said that the slicer and the food processor and things like that were all considered machines, and that they were "too dangerous" for me to handle.
W...T....F...??!?!? I'm not a toddler, I'm not going to put my hand in a robot coupe and turn it on! I'm sure now everyone has their "I told you so Dominic" faces on, but don't write me off that quickly. I will find a way. I will get a job. I have gotten over things in the past and I can do it now. They told me I was too young to take the ACT, but I did. They told me I was too young to graduate high school when I did, but I did. They told me I couldn't afford to go to culinary school but. I. did. Things just wouldn't be interesting if I didn't have something else to deal with. So I will handle this, I don't know how, or what to do, but I will. Dominic will get a job in a kitchen.
So, these are the apples (why I feel the need to introduce them, I'll never know) and I must say, this picture makes them look very large. However, I will have you know that they were not. These had to be the smallest variety next to crab apples, probably not the best kind for baking a pie out of. The recipe didn't specify what kind of apple, and I had a few large granny smith apples in the fridge, but I didn't think sour apples would be so great in a pie. So I decided just to go ahead and peel, core, and slice 50 (<-dramatic) baby apples for this pie. Frankly, it was a hassle.
Let me tell you all how I had to fight the damn squirrels for my pie pan. I was looking for one of them, under the island in the cabinet where the rest of my bake ware is, and I couldn't find them. So I looked all over, only to be told that someone moved most of my things into a plastic bin in the shed. I hate going in the shed period, but more so in the winter because that's when the squirrels move in. I made sure to bang on the door to let them know I was there, but they still decided to continue their party on the roof. So, I walked over as they scurried away to the bin to get my pie pan, when one jumps inside. So I quickly got the pan, slammed the container shut, and walked out...and now in a week I get the pleasure of fishing a dead rodent out of the bin.
Skipping right through the crust, filling, and topping making, I bring you to a disgusting picture of an unbaked pie. The filling was a cooked one (do they have a recipe for non cooked apple filling?), so I spent a little time on that. Before I made the crust early this morning because I knew it had to retard for at least four hours.425°F and 35 minutes later...
THIS came out of the oven! I was very pleased with they way it came out, mostly because sometimes my oven in crazy and it burns things for no reason. This time I was prepared and reduced the temperature by about 15°F. That way, my pie wouldn't come out looking like a volcano. I would like to try the same recipe again, with a few changes that I've noted, one being less butter in the crumb topping. That with the caramelized sugar reminded me of palmier cookies, my nemesis.
Yeah, this has been a pretty lame post, but I honestly didn't do much else today, and I wanted to put something up because I'm not going to be posting tomorrow. I'm going to be away from my desktop and the little laptop frustrates me to use sometimes, especially typing large paragraphs. Anyway, I better get going, I have a bag to pack.
When I first sat down with my first plate at the brunch buffet, I wondered to myself, "Why did I get cheese? This is going to be disgusting, just a wedge of cheese like this...". Strangely, it wasn't just a dull cheese like cheddar (not that there is anything wrong with cheddar, I just don't usually like eating large pieces of hard cheeses alone), but it was a very spicy and flavorful Pepper Jack. I tried it alone at first, and then with a piece of strawberry that I put on the plate, not thinking to eat it with the cheese. Well, it was just good. Also notice the slice of onion bread and pineapples slices.
This is a picture of juice. No, I will not be talking about the juice lol, but I would like to use this opportunity to talk about the service at Roberto's. I have to say that they have a really attentive staff here. The moment I got up to get another plate, someone was refolding my napkin, pushing in my chair, taking the old plate away, dusting the table for crumbs, and re-filling the juice and water glasses. Most places don't really have service, and I think that's a shame because these waiters probably get huge tips, and other restaurants could get the same amount of gratuity. Just thought I'd say that.
I really dislike pictures of eggs. Especially omelettes. Especially omelettes with cheese and tomatoes in them. I do, however, like the taste of them, very much. I know that its terrible manners to say mildly disgusting things while we're eating (or looking at pictures of) food, but I have been known to say worse at the table. This omelet looks like a giant sneeze. Yes that is foul, and yes the next time you eat an omelette, you will think about sneezes, but it will pass... or not....
I also noticed that the woman who usually carves the roast beef and makes the waffles hasn't been there the past two times I've gone....perhaps she got fired /: (speaking of which, I didn't get a waffle while I was there...now I want a waffle...)
*said in sarcastic tone* It just wouldn't be a review of Dominic's brunch if dessert wasn't half the meal. Anyway, this time they surprised me at the usually repeated dessert table by replacing all the old items with new ones. They had mini creme brulees (which I hate), mini flans (which I also hate), and they had mini key lime pies (which I like). You can also see here that I got some assorted candies and small cookies. I also got another one of the mystery "sacher cookies" which I have yet to find out why they share the same name as the cake (they taste absolutely nothing alike).
This was probably my favorite part of the meal; warm blueberry compote with crumb topping. It wasn't hot like fresh baked pie filling, but just right like the porridge in that story. (I think she should've gotten eaten. That's what she gets for breaking into a bears house... mhhmmmm... why am I even going off on this tangent?) There isn't really too much else to say here, other than I found more crumb topping in the bottom... so does that make it crust?
And for the final part of the meal, some chocolate covered strawberries. Again, not too much else to say here besides they were pretty good. I actually took a few more off the table on the way out, which Ashley glared at me for... speaking of which I re-did her blog. Now I only have one more banner/title card to do for someone, then I'm donneeee. She also changed the title of her blog, now its (clickable) The Look of Things. But that's about all for this post, btw I never explained why I didn't finish the Miami arc. The reason is that I got some sort of stomach sickness, and as soon as I was over it I got my tattoo on my wrist, which made me no longer able to type because it was right on top of my tendons. More tomorrow ;D
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Who remembers these lol?! This just goes to show how far I've come since first starting this blog a little over a year ago. The one on the left is the second title card that I had for +discow+, this was when it wasn't even a food blog... just sort of a let's document my life for fun kinda thing. The one on the right is the third title card I had, and it was the first card for the "Food Blog". Notice how in both of these pictures I had oodles of hair -.- The one on the right was also the first in color.
The picture on top was the fourth re-do of the title card for the blog; and it was the fist to feature actual food. It has the picture of a salad that I reviewed a little while ago, and another that hasn't been in the blog at all. That's because its my stracciatella gelato that I had on my birthday at GROM. I really want to go back there soon, but something tells me work will prevent me from doing so in the future. Anyway, the one on the bottom is my very first title, again back when this wasn't a food blog. Notice the very crappy and poorly done image. (Ignore the background, its just lorem ipsum)
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So the other day, I was thinking to myself, this blog layout is too harsh (with the giant red sign, and huge pictures) so I thought to myself, "Let's re-do it over again, but this time with something that won't get stale in two months". So I decided to make three different, new titles using modern fonts and color schemes, and decide which one worked best. The two above are the two that didn't quite make it to being in the blog. I really liked the one on the right, but the cut off look and the fact that it only has three words in it don't say much. Plus, I wanted to stray away from my usual colors (black, white, red) so that it wouldn't look like a giant target ad. The one on the left was based around using a dark purple color that a lot of websites are changing too. I ultimately decided against it because it looked too much like a home & garden magazine cover.
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These two are the final cards, the one on the left being the one used now. I also changed the color scheme to match the black and yellow "theme". I also like how the discow, my often used nickname for the site, is yellow; I've also replaced the + signs with lightning bolts. The one on the right was the one used right before the current card, and it's mainly not up anymore because of how generic it looks. It certainly was modern, but perhaps a bit too modern. More tomorrow :D
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