TGIF! I've never really used the phrase "TGIF" much because, growing up, I loved school, and weekends were just those days stuck at home without school, but, boy oh boy, am I so glad this week is over. As you may have noticed, there hasn't been a recipe up for the week, which is the result of failure after failure in my kitchen. I've lost my baking mojo! (Also, this is what I get from trying to drastically fiddle with unfamiliar recipes.) The first "cake" I pulled out of the oven this week was basically more like a pudding, collapsing in on itself--note to self: this is what happens when you try to *double* the amount of caramel in the cake.... (Upon posting an iPhone photo of this cake on twitter, multiple people commented that it looked like hot dogs and ... er... vomit--not a good sign. --> Also, I can't believe I just used the word 'vomit' on a food blog!) The second "thing" I pulled out of the oven leaked butter like nobody's business--even Paula Deen would have been shocked, I think. Finally, I was able to manage to pull something super yummy and (more importantly) *not* disastrous out of the oven--cherry chipotle BBQ mini pizzas with smoked gouda and red onions--but those went directly from the oven to Irvin from Eat the Love and Melanie's pie party/potluck at 18 reasons in SF. So yeah, no recipe for that one, either. (Although, I am obsessed with the homemade BBQ sauce that I used for this pizza, so I *might* just remake it again for you all. *might.*)
Outside the kitchen, though, this week has been packed with awesome fun: seeing The Bad Plus (one of my favorite jazz groups) at Yoshi's (here's one of my favorite pieces that played that night--I'm adopting it as my new theme song); dropping by beautiful UC Santa Cruz for a work meeting; sitting in a cafe chatting, iPhone-ography-ing, and eating dessert with friends on Memorial Day after working on refinishing my dining room table (it's almost done!); watching the latest incarnation of our department rock band make its re-debut (yes, we have a department rock band); and hanging out with old and new blog friends at the pie party. So, I can't say that the week was a total bust.
One more thing that I did this week was go out to lunch with my good friend Toni and photograph it for an Oh Joy! feature. (I'm super-excited to be on the Oh Joy! lunch series, so please go check it out!) Here's what happens when you put two photographers together for lunch:
Yeah, pretty much.
Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and much more success in the kitchen than I've been having lately. Also, if you've seen my baking mojo out and about on its illicit 'vacation,' would you kindly point it back in my direction, please?
Those pizzas look amazing! I think we've all had weeks like that....
ReplyDeleteOh please remake the bbq sauce!!! I love bbq sauce and I've been hoping to find a good recipe for one I can make myself. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like such a great weekend! I'm positive your cooking mojo will come back. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd how awesome about being on oh joy! Congrats!
I know what you mean about baking and baking and nothing working. I also often want to explain to readers often that if they see a recipe on my blog, it means it is absolutely worth making. They only see maybe 40% of the new recipes I try. So many of the others just aren't *fabulous*. Good sometimes, but not fabulous. And when the 60% that are not fabulous all occur in one week... well, that's just depressing.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh! Reading the name of that pizza got me hungry. I don't mind such baking disasters as long as I can get something like that :-D
ReplyDeleteThe photos are fascinating and the pizza is droolicious
ReplyDeleteI have spring fever and my writing/cooking mojo kind of went away, so I decided to go on a road trip.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep a look see out for your baking mojo, and, if I find it, I'll fed-x it to you!
wow.... sounds good!! :))))
ReplyDeletewww.madebygirl.com
madebygirl.blogspot.com
I know what you mean about baking and baking and nothing working. I also often want to explain to readers often that if they see a recipe on my blog, it means it is absolutely worth making. They only see maybe 40% of the new recipes I try. So many of the others just aren't *fabulous*. Good sometimes, but not fabulous. And when the 60% that are not fabulous all occur in one week... well, that's just depressing.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh! Reading the name of that pizza got me hungry. I don't mind such baking disasters as long as I can get something like that :-D
ReplyDeleteOh please remake the bbq sauce!!! I love bbq sauce and I've been hoping to find a good recipe for one I can make myself. :)
ReplyDelete