I need inspiration...

...to be healthier. I feel like every time I have the urge to make something I end up making a sugary desert. Now this may sound good to ya'll and I know my family generally enjoys it. But my body does not. The more often I eat sugar the more my body wants it. And wow does my body want it. Every few minutes there's this little voice whispering "ohhhh, go find some chocolate, it'll make you feel better." or "hmmm, maybe if you baked some cookies it would warm you up". Thanks mind, so helpful. Looking over this blog almost every post has been about desert and that's only a very small percentage of the things I've baked. I only post about the interesting and new things. I've found that I have this thing for baking. If my day isn't going well, I'm sad, or anything else like that I just want to bake something. Or cook something. But sugar is comfort food so generally baking is better.
Have you ever had that feeling like you just have to make something? My mum always said that when they were younger my oldest sister had to create something everyday and my oldest brother had to build something everyday. Well, I seem to need to bake something everyday. And cooking some normal everyday meal just doesn't cut it. I want something new, fun and exciting. And so I turn to deserts because well, there seems to be an endless supply of amazing deserts to make. I've had this attitude for the past couple weeks, I'm not sure where it came from, "oh looks sugary, fattening food, eat it it won't make you gain weight!" Umm...ya...It does. Not sure why my brain thought it was a good idea... But it seemed totally rational at the time. Either that or I was just blocking my rational side and not letting it tell my brain what I really should be thinking. Well, I need to get back in shape. For my body and my mind. I've gotten much, much too lazy of late. "Exercise, what's that?" Ya, I know horrible right? But I've made a promise to myself! I will get in shape, lose a few pounds, stop eating desert and get my metabolism working again. And so, I will be baking fewer deserts for a while. But since I seem to need to make something I'm hoping to start cooking more. Actual food, not deserts. Maybe some alternative foods, not just normal foods. Some "healthy" foods, some "weird" foods. I'm not sure what yet. I keep finding different "diets" I want to try but I can't settle on one that I'll want to stick with. And so for now, until I actually find one I like I'm just going to do my own thing. If any of you ever run across a recipe you think I'd like please do send it my way. I can't promise I'll make it but it is highly likely I will. And if it turns out well I just might make it again for you. ;)
Hmm, I'm not sure what this post was really about...but I think my main reason in writing it was that I wanted to let ya'll know that I may not be posting as much or if am it will be about healthy stuff mainly.
Remember if you come across any recipes please send them my way! They will be much appreciated!

~Alyssa <3

Not about something I baked?

Que loud gasps of shock and horror. I know, I know, what else do I talk about besides food? Lots of things! Okay, well to be honest, that's not true...I really do mostly talk about food... But that's because food is good! Food is amazing! Food is life!

But as I said, this post is not mainly about food. There is some food but that is not the point.

Most of you know that my Mum and I flew down to Dallas to visit my sister for her birthday. Let me just start off with saying, it was amazing. Visiting my sister, meeting her friends, visiting the University of Dallas, meeting professors, seeing the theatre, trying weird foods, going cool places. And the list goes on and on.

I would attempt to tell you guys in a nice organized way everything that happened. But we all know that won't happen. I'm just not an organized person (even if the hangers in my closet are color coordinated). I don't understand talking in a organized way. My mind jumps around too much to try to speak in a coherent manor. So bear with me.

I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that my dear sister is now 21. It seems like only yesterday we were playing stuffed animals, training chickens and having mud fights. Now, she's a Junior at UD, studying, learning and all that other weird grown up stuff. See I don't understand that stuff because I'm still young unlike you! ;) But really, happy 21st birthday darling sister!

                                                    

For Hannah's birthday we went out to dinner with a few of her friends to this super nice Asian restaurant. Now Hannah has been trying to get me to try sushi for a very, very long time. I have put it off and put it off as best as I could. But she wouldn't let me get away with it this time. I was going to have to try it. I put on a brave face (okay, no I really didn't, I was visibly cringing). I tasted it. It was gross. Really really gross. I really, really wanted to spit it out. But I didn't. I just calmly (frantically) swallowed it down and than gulped down a huge glass of water. Now to finish it off I saw a little blob of  "avocado" on the corner of the plate. I was like "oh yay, something to wash away the gross taste in my mouth. I put the whole blob in my mouth. Something wasn't right though. It was a bit too spicy and didn't taste like avocado at all. It took Hannah a minute to realize what I was freaking out about before she said "ohhhh, that's not avocado, that's wasabi!". Well, thanks for warning me sister. My mouth was on fire for a long, long time. Not cool. I should not be placed in Asian restaurants without proper supervision.

                                     

On Saturday I got to sit in the theatre for an hour while students worked on set, lighting and sound. Now that sentence probably does not excite any of you. Who would get excited about sitting around while systems get checked and sets get painted? Me! I was seriously freaking out! I just tucked myself in a corner and watched. I must admit I didn't want to leave. I could seriously live in a theatre. Just stay there and never leave. I don't even think any of the people who were working there understood at all. They all seemed a little weirded out that I was totally entranced and happy to be there for so long. But ehh, who cares!

That night Mum, Hannah and I all went out to dinner for at another upscale Chinese restaurant. The kind with weird food. Okay, not all of it was weird. In fact some was quite normal, and quite good. But than while looking at the appetizers mummy and Hannah had to see the Jelly Fish. They both were quite certain we had to try some. "No, please no! Let's leave that for another time" I vehemently protested. But I was quickly shushed and told that I didn't have to try it if I was a that much of a wimp. Well, fine. "Just order it" I said with a resigned countenance. I must just suck up my better  judgement and eat substances that are not meant to be eaten. Okay...well I ate it. Yes, I am proud of myself. I'm not sure why I would be proud of it but I am. It honestly didn't taste too much. Almost no taste at all actually. But the texture. Ugh. It was exactly like I would imagine cartilage being. 

                                       

On Monday morning before I left I got to meet with one of the drama professors for 30 minutes and I also got introduced to the other professor. In some ways I was completely impressed, in others I'm still a little iffy on it all. I do love UD and there do seem to be some really good things about the drama program but there are some things I've heard from students about the program that scares me just a bit. I do still want to go to UD. I am kind of in love with the school. But I am questioning it a little bit too. I still have a while to decide though so I shan't worry too much.

Oh I also sat in on Hannah's Latin class. Whoa...and I thought high school Latin was hard... No, no it's not. The class was insanely hard. Hmm..the things  have to look forward to. But the teacher was brilliant. She's this absolutely gorgeous woman, with her own fashion line but she's also an absolutely brilliant professor. Just a stunning women all in all. Here's a link to her website in case you want to see what I mean.

For those of you who are freaking out about the whole Ebola thing, yeah, not as big of  a deal as everyone is making it seem. Though really we weren't in Dallas, we were in Irving. I was kind of surprised when we got down there and there were really no signs of it. No extra posters about being sanitary or anything. I think the media must be blowing it out of proportion a bit. So none of you have to worry. I did not get Ebola. I did not die. I'm fine. Though there was one scary moment when on the way back I was feeling pretty sick and the first thought that ran through my mind was "I have Ebola!" I freaked out and was just about ready to skip my flight and go to the hospital so I wouldn't contaminate everyone else before I realized that it takes longer than two days for symptoms to show and that there just really wasn't any way I had gotten it. It was just my hyperactive imagination at play. Sometimes I wish my mind would just shut up.

And just cause I really liked these pictures here are a couple of the sunset pics I took from the plane. It may have been a long flight home but it was quite beautiful. We were chasing the sunset, so the colors seemed to last forever. 

~Alyssa <3

Fig Bars

Figs, again, yes again. With the weather being so warm (or so I'm told, I've still been cold...) we have still been picking more and more ripe figs. We've been eating them fresh but not fast enough for them not to start going bad. So mummy wanted me to bake something. With a little bribing and begging, I consented (okay, to be honest I was the one begging to bake something with the figs). But as I got started I ran into one small problem, it is very hard to find recipes for fresh figs. They all call for dried figs. And well, my figs were very much fresh. So doing the typical thing that I feel like i do almost every time I bake I just changed the recipe. Yeah, the recipe calls for dried figs but fresh will be fine, right? I'm always right. (okay, that's not true...) 

The recipe said to cook the figs for about 15 minutes. So I thought with fresh figs maybe double the time. So after 30 minutes when the figs still weren't cooked I just left. I just ditched it and went and read. I was in the middle of a good book I wanted to read. Don't judge me. 

After about an hour-ish (I think I really don't know though I was reading and when I read I completely lose track of time) I came to the end of my book and I smelled something...oops. With my typical forgetful mind I had completely forgotten the cooking figs. I jumped off the couch and sprinted to the kitchen expecting to find a blackened mess. But to my surprise there was no black. Just a nice, thickened fig paste. Perfectly done and ready to be used. Either my instincts are getting better or my book was just conveniently the right length. I don't know which, but I'm glad it worked.

I decided to make a gluten free crust cause my mum wanted to be able to eat it without guilt. Now i normally don't do gluten free cooking. It scares me and just doesn't turn out as well. Well, the crust looked a little odd when I cooked it. I was kind of worried. But than I smelled it. Nothing to worry about. Smelled like shortbread, Shortbread is amazing. So buttery... ahhhh!

The Fig stuff got spread over the crust. I really did have hard time not just eating it all right than. I really, really didn't want to wait. It smelled that good.

The crumble over the top was pretty good too. Just a nice buttery crumble with oats.

Well, when I finally got to taste it I was in heaven. Like seriously SO good. I actually didn't get any nice pictures of it because we all ate it so quickly I didn't have time. So, I guess the moral of my story it always mess with recipes cause they'll turn out amazingly. So I was right! Hah! I am always right! 

~Alyssa <3

Chia seeds?

As I'm sure most of you know I'm kinda of a health freak. Healthful food just makes me really, really happy. Sorry not sorry. ;)
So when I saw a recipe for chia seed pudding I freaked out "ohhhhh myyyyyy goshhhhh! I neeeeed toooo makeeee thissss! Mummmyyyy, Muuuummmmmmmyyyyyyy!! I neeeeeeed toooo makeeee thisssss!"
It said it was a lot like tapioca pudding, but a low sugar breakfast alternative. That sounded great. I love pudding and I'm always looking for new breakfast foods.

So I got the ingredients and got down to business. I whipped it up last night and than let it chill overnight.

Chia seeds

All mixed together

When I dragged myself out of bed this morning the first thought on my mind was "yummmmyyyyy breakfast!!!" I quickly jumped out of bed (okay to be honest I slowly rolled out of my bed and fell on the floor where I proceeded to sleep for another ten minutes), ran downstairs (e.i. half fell, half walked slowly down the stairs) and bounced into the kitchen (slept walked). I pulled the pudding out of the fridge and dished up a bowl with a smile on my face (might have been a weird half smile...)

 Finally the first bite, so full of expectations, how amazing would it be? I was guessing it would be about a 8.5 on a scale of 1-10. I slowly took the first bite, I closed my eyes, I savored it, I almost puked. It was probably about a -3 on the scale. Yes, that bad. The aftertaste was the most disgusting thing ever. Eww.

I didn't want to give up though! I wanted to succeed! I thought to myself "What can I put in this...thing...to make it slightly more edible?" So I went to the cabinet pulled out a few ingredients and started mixing them in. A little cocoa powder, a little sugar, a little almond flavoring. It made it...better... I could at least eat it now. Sort of...

I would have continued dumping more ingredients in but at this point my stomach was having quite the loud conversation with itself. I didn't feel like I could put off feeding it any longer without the possibility of a revolt. So I sat down, eyed the "pudding" and quickly ate some. It was...well...not quite as bad. The other flavors covered up the chia seeds a little but not nearly enough. By the time I had finished my small bowl of it I was ready to gag. It was sickening. The chia seeds have a very strong aftertaste that is just quite disgusting honestly. I don't know who's idea it is to eat all these weird seeds. But there is a reason they are not a part of a human's normal diet. They aren't edible. Don't eat them! It's a trap! Some horrible creature wanted to torture humans and so he was like "haha, I'll tell them that chia seeds are to eat, this is going to be so funny!" Ya, it might be funny for him. But I can tell you this: it is not funny for the consumer.
Don't fall into this evil creatures trap. Do not consume chia seeds, they are from the devil himself.

~Alyssa <3

Caramel Apple Scones

It's fall, that wonderful magical time of year when it's so cold I seriously consider moving to a tropical location. That time of year I spend wearing oversize sweaters, thick leggings, cozy socks, fluffy house shoes, and cuddled under 10 warm blankets while drinking hot tea. But to bake I have to come out from under my blankets and suffer through the cold for a bit. There is one reward though. After the baked good comes out of the oven, there is still heat in the oven. I can huddle over the oven absorbing the heat. I'm sure you can all picture me worshiping the heat coming out of the oven wishing that I could just crawl inside the oven and cuddle up.

A friend and I needed to provide snacks for our youth group meeting and we wanted a fall theme. She was going to make pumpkin cupcakes and so I needed to make something with apples. But what? Apple cake? Boring.  Apple bread? Even more boring. Apple muffins? The most boring of all.I needed something new. I really don't like baking boring things. It's not worth the time and effort it takes. So I went to the internet and searched around for recipes for a while. I found nothing. No good apple recipes were coming up quickly enough. I finally gave up and messaged my friend who was helping with snacks. She had the perfect idea. (So thank you Grace!) Caramel apple scones. I must admit the idea sounded perfect to me. What is more fall themed than apple and caramel? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I hand chopped all the apples. Why? I don't know. I very easily could have pulled out the food processor and had them done in a minute. But me, being confusing me decided to chop them all by hand. And let me tell you that that is actually very time consuming. But kind of worth it because I got them all to be these nice little uniform cubes instead of awkward weird chinks. My OCD side very much appreciated this. ;)

After whipping all the ingredients together and rolling them out I cut them into small triangles. I wanted mini-scones so I would have plenty to go around. I do want to make them again in full size though. Breakfast?

I completely and totally fell in love with the caramel frosting. Though it really tasted more like a butterscotch frosting to me. I don't think you can get a caramel frosting without chemicals or something. 

I really did like the end product. The scone wasn't too sweet so it was complimented by the sweet frosting. I'm quite a fan of combinations like that. Sweet pastry with sweet frosting is just too much sweet. The not too sweet and sweet just balance each other nicely.

~Alyssa <3

Fig and Almond Crostata

My mouth is watering just typing this.

So this year we had an abundance of figs. A few years ago my dad planted a fig tree and we've gotten some every summer. But this was the first year we had figs in such abundance that we didn't even know what to do with them all. Last summer I had found the recipe for Crostata and made it. It was heavenly. I spent a bit this year trying to find a new recipe. Not because I didn't like the crostata but just because I don't like making the same recipe twice and I know there are so many amazing recipes out there. But I really didn't find anything better. In fact nothing came close to the crostata recipe. And so with mixed feelings I decided to stick with a tried but true recipe. And so ladies and gentleman I present to you Fig and Almond Crostata! 

The figs get soaked in lemon juice (I'm assuming it's to keep them fresh but I really don't know) I just did it cause the recipe said to and I didn't want to ignore it without a reason (with a reason I would have been glad too, of course) 

The wonderful amazing almond paste. It's so good I could have just stopped right there sat down and eaten it all by itself. This was definitely a very important "taste test" moment. Didn't want to poison anyone you know... But ya, seriously amazing tasting.

The dough was just normal pie crust type stuff... (wow, I am so descriptive and specific...) I decided to use white flour and broke my rule (It's more what you'd call "a guideline" than an actual rule) of using only pastry flour when I bake. I did not regret it. Pastry flour just doesn't work for pie crusts.  

All put together. The figs I ended up with were rather ripe so I didn't get perfect round slices. But that's okay! I've been told taste is more important than looks. I still don't quite believe that but for this time I'll just go with it. 

Mmmmmmmmm! Finally finished. Beautiful, mouthwatering pastry. Baked to perfection. The whiffs of sweet almond and fig floating from it were almost too much to bear. Would I be able to restrain myself? Or would I consume the whole thing immediately?!

It was hard to resist it's voice calling to me "Alyssa, I'm all yours. Yours alone. I'm not to be shared. We should be exclusive. Just you and me in this relationship. No one else to bother us. Just us, us alone." But I had to resist the temptation! I had to be strong! I mean isn't that what every girl wants to hear? 

But I can proudly say I resisted the temptation. I resisted it's little voice in my ear trying to drag me down the path of evil and vice. Thank you. thank you. Yes, t must have been God's intervention because I know something outside of myself saved this pastry from it's immediate demise.

Haha, but to be serious. It really is an amazing recipe. My mum even broke from her gluten-free diet to have some. For days afterwords she would tell me just how amazing it was and how perfect. My daddy was immensely pleased with the use of his figs. And I was pleased with how it turned out as well. And oh but that almond paste...

~Alyssa <3

Blackberry Scones

Yes, it is that time of year. That time when there is an abundance of fresh, ripe, succulent blackberries. Mmmm, the juicy dark flesh that stains your fingers when you pick them and your mouth when you eat them. Yum!
This morning was quite wonderful and relaxing. I got up late, went running, made a yummy breakfast, showered and than went outside to pick berries. Mmm, lovely morning.
This afternoon I had to find some use for all the berries I picked. Humm, muffins? cake? pie? Been there, done that. I needed something yummy, food-ish and at least slightly new. Scones. Mhmmmm. I love scones. Scones are amazing. Scones are heavenly. Scones are perfect.

Mixed the dough, plopped it out, smoothed it around and chopped it into pieces. Not very elegant I know. But seriously that's basically all I did.

Put them into the oven to cook while I whipped up the icing.

Blackberry icing. Yum. ^_^

 All cooked and ready to ice. 

Blackberry icing. New, different and very purple. Love it. 

All done. Perfection. They tasted so amazing. Perfectly delicious. Definitely a keeper of a recipe. Someday ya'll will have to come over and have tea and scones with me. 

~Alyssa <3

Coffee? Coffee.

Well...my version of coffee at least. My daddy won't admit that it's actually coffee. He says it's milk and sugar... I can't really deny that but there is coffee in it too!!! So what is my version of coffee? Iced Lattes. Sooo good! You all probably know I don't really like coffee. Well okay I take that back. I don't like straight up coffee. I love the coffee flavor I just don't like the bitterness. I'm a sweet kind of person. Now I honestly don't know how real iced lattes are made. I could care less. My version of an iced latte is to take the leftover coffee that was made a couple hours before. So it's fairly chilled. Fill a glass 1/4 full of ice and 1/2 full of milk. If you do the math that leaves 1/4 to be filled with coffee. So ya, not much coffee. But enough to get the taste and get me some caffeine. Oh and I almost forgot. You can't forget to add the sugar. Without a bit of sugar it's just not quite right. So if you ever see me going slightly insane, it's probably because I've been drinking an iced latte. ;)

 Oh and in case you're wondering. No I am not in my own kitchen. I discovered my love of iced latte's while on my family reunion in Michigan.

 I'm insane, Coffee makes me insane. I love coffee. My version of coffee. ;)

~Alyssa <3

My specialty

Over the years I've been asked what my "specialty" is. And until recently I always answered "I don't know". But it all changed one day a while back. A friend and I decided we wanted to make eclairs. Those scrumptious, delicious, heavenly pastries that make your mouth water and your eyes pop and your brain say "who cares about that diet?". Yes, they are that good. They are quite possible my favorite desert. My favorite food to bake. My favorite thing to eat. My favorite thing to look at. My favorite treat. My favorite... okay I think you get my point. I like them quite a lot. In fact I like them so much I have a hard time sharing them. When people ask to have one it generally goes something like this:

Them: "Ohhhh, Alyssa can I have one of those eclairs?"
Me: "Ummm, well....ya about that....there aren't really any left..."
Them: "What? You just made them yesterday and I didn't have any."
Me: "Ya...I don't know where they went so quickly. Somebody must have been eating them."

Yes, I know that someone is me. No I do not tell everyone that. You know "What the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve over" and "What you don't know can't hurt you". Right? Right.

Anyway, I'm sure you're all dying to see pictures of these oh so amazing pastries. And so without further delay The Eclair:

You start with the filling. Now most eclair recipes would just use a lame whipped cream filling. NO! DO NOT FALL FOR THAT TRAP! That is not the way to make an eclair. You must use a custard filling. Let me reiterate. YOU MUST USE A CUSTARD FILLING OR YOU ARE BEING LAME AND I DON"T WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU EVER AGAIN! Haha, okay, okay I'm joking. No actually I'm not. USE CUSTARD! You want my reasons? Okay here you go:
Number 1: It's what they actually use in real eclairs so if you don't use custard you aren't making real eclairs. Number 2: It tastes heavenly and it's slightly less sweet removing the overly sweet after taste of most whipped cream fillings.
Number 3: I told you to! So you have to! Hah!

Step number two. The pastry. Little puffs of delicious airy goodness. Not overly sweet and light as light can be. Mmmmmmmm!

Now to combine the two! Surgery time! Slice the patients stomach open. Scoop out all vital organs and replace with a nice space filler. Or in other words slice the pastries in half remove some of the  inner pastry and fill with custard.  

 Mhhhhhhhmmmmmmm, look at that amazing custard oozing out of the delicate pastries. Is your mouth watering yet? No well just wait a moment and if you aren't drooling then maybe you should go get your salivary glands checked. They may have dried up.

Chocolate. The finishing touch. The perfect finish to the perfect pastry. I'm crying. Just give me a minute. 

Okay, I'm back. Sorry about that. Beautiful pastries make me very emotional. But moving on before I start crying again. ;)

This. This is what you should be drooling over. Don't lie and say you didn't drool. Cause you know you did. 

I'm gonna steal one! Or two...or three...or all of them.

Yes, this is what your face should look like when eating one of my eclairs. If it's not than you are no longer invited to eat them. Haha, just kidding. You were never invited in the first place cause I'm gonna eat them all!  

Love ya'll and I just might make you eclairs if you beg hard enough. Oh and you might get to eat one if you tie me down and eat it before I can steal it back. ;)

~Alyssa <3

Ice cream sandwiches

Yes, I know, another post about ice cream. But it's summer! What else am I supposed to be eating? Anyway, years ago when we were in Hawaii we stopped at an ice cream sandwich shop. They had practically every flavor of cookies and ice cream. I fell in love. Like seriously, I was in love. Fast forward a few years, I've had making ice cream sandwiches in the back of my mind but never had the time to make them. Finally I realized I had put it off for too long. It was time. After taking a vote from my family I decided to go with the classic, chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. Simple but delicious.

So good! I love ice cream but there's always something missing. And that something is cookies. Cookies make everything better. So in other words go beat the summer heat with ice cream sandwiches! 

~Alyssa <3

Ice cream cake

I've always wanted to make an ice cream cake. When I was little we would drive past Dairy Queen and they would always have signs up for their ice cream cakes. I would just drool and beg to get one. Every time the answer was "no". The very idea of a cake made of ice cream fascinated me. So when Javier's birthday came around I jumped on the idea of an ice cream cake. He was all for it. So now I had an excuse! I thought it would be quite simple and quick so me being the procrastinator that I am didn't get started until much too late. I spent hours searching the internet for the "perfect recipe". Ya, perfection doesn't exist. So after exhausting my resources I finally decided to just make up a recipe for myself. Typical me, right?

So I made a chocolate cake, I actually really liked the recipe I used. It was really moist and rich. I was going to say I would have to keep that recipe around but than I realized that I had already forgotten which recipe it was... Maybe I should pay more attention... next time.

After baking the perfect chocolate cake I put the strawberry ice cream into the same cake pans I used to bake the cake (after cleaning them, duh). Plopped them out on a plate and stuck them back in the freezer. As this was all last minute they didn't get to freeze for long, it would have been better to let them freeze for a couple hours not a couple minutes. But again I was procrastinating so that't all the time I had.

After opening the freezer and staring at the ice cream every 20 seconds or so I decided they were frozen enough. I took them out and one at a time stuck them between layers of cake.

And freeze!

Perfect, right?

Ya...not so perfect anymore. This is why freezing the ice cream for a longer duration would be helpful. But hey, it all worked out in the end so it's cool, right?

I made a plain vanilla whipped cream frosting and just simply quick frosted it. I was running out of time at this point. 

Done. Simple and YUMMY. Yes, it almost lived up to my expectations. I say almost because, well I had very high expectations. Would I make it again? YES! Would I change anything? YES! Sorta, I'm thinking a mint chocolate chip one with chocolate whipped cream frosting would be scrumptious. ;)

~Alyssa <3