The internet blows my mind. I lay awake at night trying to understand how it works; how it brings us all together, how we will continue to connect, and how it knows that I am searching for the current weather in Hong Kong, even when I myself did not know I even needed that information.
How is the internet going to turn out? Are we all going to have claws for hands because of the overuse of touch screens? Are doctors going to rename the pointer finger the iPointer finger?
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This cake is not just a cake.
This is a cake of success. This is also a cake of failure. This is mostly a cake of celebration.
At the end of the day, this is a cake that is following its dreams.
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I almost didn’t come home.
Between the sun and the water and the scooter – it was island paradise.
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This beer bread is a tale about the little place we call The Internet, and how it sometimes can be downright quaint.
I pulled this amazing cheesy garlic-scented pan of bread love out of my oven because of a “reader”. That is in quotes because I am in denial over the fact that it still must just be my mom reads who reads this blog.
Take for example the randomly selected person (Hi Sofia!) behind a comment on the kitchen scale giveaway. When prompted with “what should I make next” her answer was “cheesy beer bread”. I would have easily made any comment on the post but beer bread was a long-time coming.
It’s been on my list since I taught Baking With Booze and the question arose (Hi Mason!) how one could put bourbon into beer bread, because it took 5 seconds for everyone to realize that I have a little habit of tipping the bottle in to most things that I bake.
It was decided that the best way should be to first marinate jalapeño peppers in bourbon, then add the spicy bourbon to the beer when making one’s batch of beer bread.
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Update 3/24/12: Congratulations Sofia! You are the randomly selected winner! Thanks y’all for entering!
How to use a kitchen scale is pretty easy: turn it on, add a bowl, zero the scale, then fill with your ingredient. Boom. Done.
Why you should use a kitchen scale is a horse of another color.
Let’s start with flour. You should get a kitchen scale almost exclusively for flour.
At your next party, ask ten people to measure out a cup of flour. Not only will you be providing good-natured entertainment for your guests, you will see that everyone measures flour differently. Some people scoop flour into the cup and pack it down, others dip the cup in and shake it until it is full, some people will ask for a knife to level off the top (hint: eat their baked goods!) but the only real way to measure flour correctly is to have a scale.
I put off the purchase of a kitchen scale for way too long because I thought it would be too much work. And that having it next to my measuring cups would suck the fun out of baking. I also grew up in Seattle, and us Americans know what 1 1/2 cups looks like, but 205 grams! What is that? What size of bowl do I even need for that amount?! I don’t KNOW! I had visions of being so lost in the kitchen after the purchase of a scale and that it would turn my world upside down!
I won’t point a finger if you haven’t yet tried your hand at dough-making. Working with yeast can be down right scary.
It is ALIVE! It must be fed?! Will it rise? Did I give my dough enough love?
For years I shrugged off anything made with yeast as being too much of a project. Plus why bother when you can procure a ball of fresh dough at most pizza places, especially one which will bake up into a dreamboat of a pizza all while in the comfort of your own home.
Mix, knead, rise, rest, roll, heat, eat. After a while I could not justify my fear anymore. Bread has also been made for ages so it can’t be that hard. [Update: That statement is correct. It is pretty easy.]
That said, I usually do not like to declare things “easy” or “simple” because you know those people who are like, “Yeah, I had a pretty easy morning, I ran 15 miles and then I crafted a table out of corks but I decided it was 10 am so I better get along with my day!”
I won’t blame you if you are thinking – oh sure, pizza dough may be easy for you, but you are baker! The real reason I’m a baker is because at the end of the day I am an eater and I taught myself to make the food that I wish I could pay other people to make for me but somehow I can not seem to ever find exactly what I am craving. The exception to this is burgers. I don’t make burgers. Someone will always and forever make a better burger than me.
I have an ever-growing list in that deep reserve of the back of my brain that helps me to remember to water the plants, change out the batteries in the smoke detector and is able to recall one of my 38 username/password combinations at a moments notice.
The bread-making process is one of those simple joys. You should give it a try. You might surprise yourself. Making pizza is a perfect weekend activity.
Forget your list for a day.
Make your own dough from scratch.
I’ll be here for you when you have that moment where you need to let someone know how easy it was.
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I have a problem. Fine, I have a few problems. They mostly involve the price of coffee and the timeliness of the MTA but I also just can not bring myself to make a standard batch of chocolate chip cookies.
I just can’t seem to leave well enough alone when it comes to cookie making. I’m always trying to add in that je ne sais quoi.
This recipe, my friends, is about as close as I can come to the cookie that we call An American Classic.
Why? You ask. Well if there is a cookie then there is flavor that can be boosted. Whatever chocolate chip cookie you remember savoring as a child, I assure you can be made better with the addition of brown butter.
Brown butter is like a push-up bra for cookies. Sometimes you need a boost.
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What do you do with that last little bit of wine?
Do you save it for the next day, knowing it will be so-so?
Do you pour it out, but feel guilty because you are a resessionista and waste nothing?
Do you go ahead and drink it, just for the sake of it?
These are my life questions at this very moment.
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I would like to introduce you to a little segment called Did You Know?
Did You Know: green grapes explode when you put them in a microwave? I do not currently have a microwave but a word of warning to all the twelve year-old boys out there who read this blog – please DO NOT try that at home. Your parents will not be happy if they come home and find you exploding grapes in the microwave just because you read about it on the internet.
Did You Know: while filming the movie Jaws, Steven Spielberg named the “shark” Bruce? He named him after his lawyer but sometimes you just have to have a mechanical shark named Bruce in your life. I respect that.
Did You Know: you can soften rock-hard brown sugar by adding a slice of sandwich bread to the bag and sealing it shut for a few hours?
Did You Know: you can MAKE YOUR OWN brown sugar?! It is easy. All you need are two things: granulated sugar and molasses.
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You guys. You guys are the best! Baking MADE friends last night!
Thank you to everyone who baked delicious treats! Thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed the massive selection of baked goods! Thank you for letting me pimp out my tote bags to y’all!
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