Foux da fa fa

Over the weekend, I ventured down to the Southside neighborhood of Hyde Park. Lately, this area has gotten a lot of recognition as Prez Obama's home, but it is also home to my older brother :) The bike ride (from 1200 N to 5700 S) was a lot more demanding than I had anticipated on my old Schwinn cruiser, but the sunset views of the Skyline on my upon my return made it all worth it. Actually, the true motive for my visit was to check out this small French bakery that my brother recommended to me.

Unlike some French-style bakeries around Chicago, Bon Jour Bakery & Cafe is actually owned by French ex-pats. The woman behind the counter who was obviously the owner, spoke French with her hankerchief-headed employees and offered several pastries that aren't frequently seen around here. To begin, we ordered a palmier that was seriously sweet and perfectly crisp. My brother ordered a delicious little roasted pepper and goat cheese panini. Then, we took three different macarons to go. I would have definitely ordered more but these little bites of heaven weren't cheap at $1.65 a pop. We got lemon, cinnamon, and lemon-basil. They were all fantastic, but the lemon-basil, which was recommended to me by one of the adorable employees, was incredible. The flavor began with a sweet herbal basil taste then finished with the clean and tangy taste of lemon. Beautiful!

Afterwards, we wandered over to Jackson Park to visit the Osaka Garden. This is a little getaway just South of the Museum of Science & Industry leftover from the Columbian Exhibition in 1893. It is absolutely gorgeous and so peaceful, if you live nearby it is definitely worth taking the time to find. And with this beautiful weather that has finally arrived, why not?

Tarts & Charts

School stinks. That's all there is to it. Consequently, I put off studying for exams tonight to make these little wonders. Veganomicon's heart shaped apple galettes! I didn't have the inclination to heart-shape them, so here they are in all of their circular glory. I'm dying to live in apartment with natural light so that these picture will not be so aesthetically DISpleasing. The weather has been so lovely and practically all the other universities in Chicago have been finished for weeks, why must the quarter (rather than semester) system torture me so? 2 weeks til freedom. Until then...

Strarrrrberry Season

What to do when you buy 2 lbs. of strawberries with no intentions: CRISP, yo! You probably have all of the ingredients already, which is the best part. Or maybe the best part is that in the scheme of things, this really isn't that bad for yer healthz. The options are unlimited with this, I added an apple that was going to turn bad soon. Any other berries, pears, peaches, plums, etc. would also be really nice additions.

Supplies:

2 lbs. of strawberries, hulled & halved (you can use less if you're adding other fruits)
1/4 c maple syrup
1/2 c AP flour
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/3 c earth balance
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger



How to:

• Preheat to 350 degrees and mix the strawberries (+ other fruits, if you please) with the syrup in an ungreased 8x8 in. Pyrex-style glass pan.
• Mix together all the other ingredients in a medium bowl. You can use a fork, but its easier to just do it with your handiest tools (note: hands). Pinch the chunks o' EB with your fingers until its like bean sized.
  
• Sprinkle the crumbles on top of the fruit and bake for 40-45 minutes!

Once its cooled for about 10 minutes, serve it up with some nondairy ice cream or just be boring and healthy. I'm way into vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream these days. Take advantage of cheap seasonal fruits while you still can!!!!

SIDE NOTE: Why is it that many people refuse to pronounce the word strawberry as it is meant to be? I've found that my parents' generation loves to say "straRberry". Wack. Yet, not as wack as some of their other made up words such as "warshing machine".

Dragons/Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Long time so nee. I've been on hiatus for no real good reason. Finals & spring break, I guess. Anyways, dry your eyes mate, I've returned in full effect.

Richard D. Jaley's 22nd birthday was a few weeks ago, so in his honor I made the dreaded carrot cake cupcakes. I've always hated carrot cake. The stigma attached is the result of a minor vom incident on St. Patrick's Day about a decade ago involving far too much cabbage and carrot cake. I will not continue. However, these little babies changed my thoughts COMPLETELY.

I used the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World with a few minor changes. A little extra cinnamon here, fresh grated nutmeg there. For the cream cheese frosting (made with Tofutti) I added 1 t of almond extract in addish to the 1/2 t of vanilla extract and a few dashes of cinnamon, it made a huge difference. These are decorated with slivers of carrots. I Dooo suggest these as they blew my mind and changed my c-cake hating ways. Full of spice and flavor <3

Lemony-Bloob Cuppycakes

"Give me natural flavorings or give me death"

Blueberries are whats up. When raw, they are a fancy snack, but the minute you heat them up.. MAGIC! They turn into a deliciously tart and fantastically dark purpley magenta-y sauce that is awesome for adding an edgy punch to many desserts. I'm not a huge fan of food coloring because of its occasionally carcinogenic properties, so blueberry sauce is a great sub for pink.

To make these lovlies, i started with the basic lemon cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Takeover the World and altered the vegan fluffy buttercream from the same book. The only change that I made to the cupcakes was using the juice of half a lemon rather than the lemon exracts because that shtuff is way $$$.

Pseudo-Jam:

scant 1/2 c fresh blueberries
1/4 c natural sugar
1 t lemon juice
1 T cornstarch

Heat the first 3 ingredients up in a small saucepan over medium high heat until they begin to boil while smooshing the berries the the side of a spoon against the side of the pan. Lower the heat and stir for a few minutes while added the cornstarch. This addition might violate some sauce rules, but whatevs. If it is super runny, just add a little more starch--it should be comparable to a homemade jelly.

Once this has cooled down completely, you can add it to your buttercream! It's best to do after everything else has been mixed otherwise it will probably get all curdly and separated and NOT pretty. Pipe on as you please and enjoy the perfect combo of lemon and blueberry in heavenly cupcake form.