Cupcakes in a Jar

A good friend of mine from college is pregnant and as a way to say congratulations, I thought it would be fun to bake and mail her some cupcakes. Who wouldn't love to receive surprise cupcakes in the mail? Especially when you are pregnant you basically have carte blanche to eat whatever you want (eating for two blah blah blah).

Of course, mailing cupcakes is something of a challenge. How to send them so they don't end up totally squished with icing everywhere? I considered various packing options (individual boxes? send the cupcakes un-iced?), but nothing really seemed like it would get the job done. So I did what any self-respecting American with a smart phone would do. I went to Google.

Turns out the answer is pretty simple, awesome, and adorable. Bake the cupcakes in jars!

As far as first attempts go, I wouldn't say it was a triumph. But I wouldn't say it was a disaster either. There is definitely room for improvement, but all in all the cupcakes were cute and arrived safe and sound.

It's not that complicated really. Cupcakes in a jar. As advertised.

I used a box spice cake mix (hey, nobody's perfect), and prepared it as directed. I divided the batter between 12 half-pint jelly jars, filling them out about halfway. And that was my mistake; I should have left more room to allow for the cupcakes to rise. Turns our a box of cupcake mix these days makes about 18 cupcakes, so when you only make a dozen....yeah, they are big cupcakes.

 Oops. Too much cupcake in the jar.

Most of the jars were filled to the brim with cake which meant there was no room for icing. I had to scoop out a bunch of the cake and (gasp!) throw it away. Yes, I had to waste precious cake, and trust me it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But live and learn, right? Next time I can make more cupcakes! 

Oh, and regarding the baking process, you just put the jars on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes (or whatever the baking directions are on your recipe or box). To ice the cupcakes, I piped on the icing using a pastry bag and cake decorating tip. I suppose you could spoon it in, but it definitely wouldn't look as nice. I also dyed the icing blue as my friend is having a baby boy. 

After icing the cupcakes and popping on the lids, I put the jars in the freezer for about a day to make sure they were frozen solid. I packed them in a box, wrapping each jar in newspaper, and mailed them out! Easy peasy, lemon squeasy. 

If you're looking for more specific directions or other fun cupcake ideas, check out the blog, Cupcake Project. It's where I got the idea!

Going Meatless

I love meat. Well, I love protein, but since I don't like beans or other similar sources of non-meat protein, meat is usually my go-to. But I also understand that too much of a good thing (mmm....animal flesh) is a bad thing. So I have lately been trying to explore more vegetarian-friendly options that will still leave me feeling full and won't cause my arteries to harden.

Now the recipe below, I know I am going to lose many of you with the first ingredient. Namely, Morning Star Soy Crumbles. Yes, it is soy. But it is also delicious.

In case you aren't familiar, the crumbles mimic the flavor and consistency of ground beef, but are made from soy. I decided to pair them with another product I picked up at the grocery story, La Tortilla high fiber tortillas. Mexican food (specifically items in tortillas) are not very diet friendly since those tortillas pack a ton of calories. But La Tortilla brand have only 50 calories each and are low carb and high fiber. So Mexican is back on the menu, boys!*

I decided to go with a classic taco. I cooked up some veggies (peppers and onion) and then threw some of the crumbles in the pan. Some water, taco seasoning, and about 1 minute later I had my taco filling! 

I added some chopped tomatoes for fun, but sadly didn't have any salsa in the house. 

The tacos definitely hit the Mexican spot, but I'm not gonna lie, there was a bit of an aftertaste from the low calorie tortillas. But this is the price you pay to look fabulous, right? Next time I am going to add more taco seasoning and salsa to make a more complex flavor. And I might even throw in some hot sauce to add more kick. 

Total calorie count for both tacos: 200 calories. Seriously, two big tacos for only 200 calories.

*That's a Lord of the Rings movie reference, in case you missed it. 

Time for MAGIC!

When you still have two days left on your three day Universal Studios pass...you HAVE to go to Orlando, right? Right. Especially when Harry Potter World is there. So Chris, Kent, and I packed our bags and headed down to Orlando over Columbus Day weekend for four days of magic, mayhem, and outlet shopping. Oh, and this time? I decided I was doing Disney. It had been 18 years since I had been there, and dammit, I wanted the full experience.

I was ready to drink the Kool-Aid and have a truly magical time. And I gotta say, we had an amazing little vacation.

Our first day in town, we did what any red-blooded patriotic American does. We went shopping! Hey, it was Columbus Day weekend which meant sales and Orlando is known for its huge outlet malls. And I definitely needed new clothes--losing a bunch of weight also means that none of my clothes fit. And I can't resist the chance to buy new sweaters. And shoes. And skirts. Ok, so I just love shopping, so sue me.

The next three days were completely dedicated to theme parks. We started with Universal, which I have to admit I have been to three times before. But that darn Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just so awesome! One of the good things about having visited the park so many times though is we knew exactly what was worth seeing. We immediately jogged to Harry Potter land and got in line for the Hogwarts ride (which already had a 20 minute wait even though the park had only been open for 10 minutes). Then we rode the Dueling Dragons (twice!) and obtained butter beer. Priorities, people.

In line at the ride that runs through Hogwarts. Best theme park ride EVER.

Chris and Kent enjoy their Butterbeer!

After spending the morning in Hogsmeade, we made a quick circuit through the other Islands of Adventure hitting our favorite rides. Then we made a trip over to Universal Studios for the roller coasters. We also tried out the new 3D Transformers ride, which I have to admit, was really really neat. It wasn't a roller coaster per se--you rode in a transformer (shaped as a car) and with 3D screens and moving you around, they made it appear as if you were in the middle of a fight between the Decepticons and Autobots. It's kind of hard to adequately describe, but trust me when I say it was way better than any of the actual movies.

By the time we finished up in Universal Studios, it was the late afternoon and we were kind of tired. We still had two full days of theme-parking on the trip, so we decided to call it a day and head back to our resort a bit early.

The next day we began our Disney adventure! I had joined a website called touringplans.com which studies the parks and crowd patterns and lets you know which day to visit which park and puts together itineraries for your visit. So we knew that we should hit Hollywood Studios on Sunday and save the Magic Kingdom for Monday. With our trusty day-long guide, we managed to see every major attraction in the most efficient way possible. And y'all know how much I love efficiency. Let me put it this way: we had ridden the Rock and Roll Rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror (twice) before the park had even been open 30 minutes. Score.

Group shot at Hollywood Studios!

I was SUPER excited for our lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby.

Suck it, Gene Kelly!

Hollywood Studios was fun....but the Magic Kingdom was definitely the main event of our trip. We followed our touring plans and were literally the third car in the parking lot for the monorail and the first people in line to get through the gate. When they counted down the parking opening, we sprinted through the arch and raced down Main Street USA. I know we probably looked like crazy people, but we just felt like big kids running into the best playground in the world.

First stop: Space Mountain. You gotta get the big stuff done first or the lines would be impossible later. We pretty much followed the recommendations of the touring plan and had done 5 rides before 10am. We also utilized the new Fast Pass system (you get a ticket to the ride at a specific hour long window and get to go through a quicker express line). By the time we made it to our late lunch reservation at the Liberty Tavern (think Disney does Colonial Williamsburg), we had pretty much seen everything on our list. We had just enough time to stop for ice cream and take a picture with Mickey before we were done for the day.

And so endeth our Orlando adventure! The weather the entire trip was stunning--warm and blue skies--and we just all really embraced the feeling of being a kid again and enjoying ourselves. You really shouldn't over think Harry Potter and Disney. Just let yourself go and have fun!

The How Novel Bookclub: 1984 Part III

Third time's the charm, y'all! This is it. The end. The third and final discussion of George Orwell's 1984.

I'll pause to let it sink in. And for you to get your hanky in case the emotion gets to be too much.

As far as experiments go, I think this whole blogging bookclub is working out pretty well. Sure, there was a long lag between our first and second discussions, but hey, life happens. And I have to admit: this was not my favorite book.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it. But at times it was a bit of a slog. After all, it was written in the 1940s and there has certainly been a shift in fiction prose in the last 60 or so years. The long dense paragraphs and slow plot movement were a bit of a challenge. But it certainly gets points for its importance to the Western literature cannon and how it basically created the dystopian future genre.

And now on to Part III! (summary from Penguin books)

Winston and Julia are separated and taken to the Ministry of Love where Winston is physically and psychologically tortured by O’Brien until he finally accepts the Party’s views. In a moment of utter terror, Winston betrays Julia, something he was convinced they could never make him do. The final lines of the book show Winston’s complete transformation into a model Party member: “…Everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”

The shit, as they say, hits the fan. Part III was a difficult read, but not for the reasons I discussed above. It's just hard to read about someone being tortured. And we're not only talking about physical torture--though that happens and don't even get me started on the rats--but the psychological stuff is pretty horrible too.

I admit it: I was surprised that O'Brien ended up being the big bad guy. In fact, I am surprised at how WRONG all my predictions were regarding the plot of this book. I thought for sure it would be about a man fighting the power and trying to bring down the fascist government. It turns out Winston never even had a chance. The Party always knew what he was doing and everything that he was thinking. This isn't a story about one man's triumph over evil--it's a story about how men are capable of creating evil that cannot be stopped.

Y'all this book is depressing as HELL.

Winston makes a good go of it. He hangs on as long as he can. He even feels a certain amount of pride in not betraying Julia...until he does. But if you were being threatened with having your face chewed off by rats, is there anything you wouldn't betray? And then, even when he can tow the Party line and has learned how to employ doublethink...he still hates Big Brother. Doesn't he? Until the end when the Party's victory is complete. Winston is released back into the world (such as it is) where he spends his days sitting at a desk doing nothing and drinking gin in a bar. On the last page is the final sad revelation. He loves Big Brother.

The scariest thing about 1984 is the utter hopelessness.  There is absolutely no happy ending here. There's a bit of ambiguity here about whether Winston gets his brains blown out, but honestly that seems like a better option. At least then he could be a martyr for an actual cause. But Winston gets turned into another brainless Party drone. Just another brick in the wall.

"Obedience is not enough...Power is inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself...Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen. The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm....there will be no love except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated foe. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science." --O'Brien

Yeah, not a world I want to live in thank you very much.

Bottom line: A slow moving plot and theme of hopelessness combine for a tough read. Still, if you consider yourself a fan of dystopian future fiction, I'd recommend it purely for it's importance to the genre. Otherwise--skip it. It's gonna bring you down.

The Great Cupcake Hunt: So it Begins

It's no secret I love cupcakes. I mean, who doesn't? Maybe communists? But that's probably just because of lack of opportunity, not anything offensive about cupcakes themselves.

A few months ago, my friend Lauren and I had a brilliant idea. Let's try all the cupcake shops in the area and find out who has the best cupcakes of all. Cupcakes are having something of renaissance here in the DC area and you can't take a step without tripping over a cupcake shop. We decided to start with Alexandria, but our big idea for hitting all the big shops in one day kind of hit a big stumbling block. Turns out a lot of cupcake shops aren't open on Mondays.

(cue sad trombone)

But! We were not going to be stopped. Lauren and I planned a cupcake feast and BY GOD we would have it. So we decided to make the shops compete bracket style so we could perform our Great Cupcake Hunt in multiple steps. First up in Part I: Buzz Bakery vs. Lavender Moon Cupcakery.

The rules of the Cupcake Hunt are simple. Each bakery will compete with three cupcakes: a basic vanilla on vanilla and two other cupcakes that represent the signature style of the individual shop. There are three categories of judging criteria. First, appearance. After all, you want your cupcakes to look pretty. Second, taste. Duh. And third, the X-Factor. Is there something that makes the cupcake really special? Appearance and taste are judged on a scale of 1-10 (with both me and Lauren assigning our own scores) and the X-Factor score is a sort of bonus that we mutually agree upon (out of 5 possible points). A cupcake may be overall ho-hum, but if it has something out of the common way, it can get a score bump.

In this corner: three cupcakes from Buzz Bakery.

And in this corner, Lavender Moon's three cupcakes:

First round: Buzz Bakery's Flower Power vs. Lavender Moon's Vanilla Vanilla (both are vanilla cake with vanilla icing).

Let's start with Buzz Bakery's Flower Power. I wish I could say that we started off with a bang, but it was definitely more of a whimper. In the Appearance category, Lauren awarded a 6 while I was quite unimpressed and gave the cupcake a 3. The cupcake had a bit of creativity with the flower and colors, but in the end, it was a messy presentation. It looked like something a grade schooler would make and the colors were...not appealing.

As for taste, again, this cupcake came up short. The frosting was gritty and overpowering of the cake with a slightly chemical taste (probably due to the food coloring). The cake itself was very dense (which I like), but really dry. It tasted like it had been sitting out for a while. Cutting the cupcake in half revealed a surprise, there was some chocolate filling inside. But not a lot and you couldn't taste any of it. The frosting was way too sweet and honestly, making a cupcake at home from a mix would have been better. Lauren scored the cupcake a 3 in the Taste category and I gave it a 2. As for the X-Factor: a big fat snowman (0). Nothing special here.

Flower Power's score: Appearance (9) + Taste (5) + X-Factor (0) = 14. Yikes

Next up in the vanilla category, Lavender Moon's Vanilla Vanilla (see picture above).

This cupcake scored way higher in appearance.  It had the look of a classic beautiful boutique cupcake with an elegant swirl of tasty looking frosting. I also found the flecks of vanilla bean in the frosting very appealing. We did dock a few points for a kind of boring presentation. Just because it's vanilla doesn't mean you can't stick a piece of fruit, some kind of crumble, or even some vanilla shavings on top! Lauren gave it an 8 and I went with a 7.

Taste was a bit of a surprise. The texture was very nice and the cake and frosting were well-balanced...but at the end of the day it was kind of bland. Vanilla on vanilla is never really going to be exciting, but you can make a great vanilla flavor (think of a delicious vanilla ice cream) and this cupcake was lacking that kind of vanilla punch. Having said that, the texture of the frosting was light and frothy and really pleasing. Both Lauren and I assigned a 6. Oh, and the cupcake also got an X-Factor bonus of 2, for the flecks of vanilla bean in the frosting. It may not have lived up to the vanilla promise, but it sure looked purty.

Vanilla Vanilla score: Appearance (15) + Taste (12) + X-Factor (2) = 29

First round, Lavender Moon is the clear winner.

Second round! Buzz Bakery's Peachy Keen vs. Lavender Moon's Grand Marnier Orange Chocolate

Buzz's Peachy Keen (pictured on the right): in the Appearance category we liked this one a lot better than the first selection. The crumble on top was really cute, and the color was definitely an improvement. But the size of the cupcake is definitely a problem--it's just small, especially when compared side by side to Lavender Moon's offerings. If I am paying over $3 for a cupcake, I want more bang for my buck. And it's also kind of chintzy on the icing. Lauren scored it a 6 and I gave it a 5.

Taste was a big improvement though. This was a delicious cinnamon cake topped with cream cheese frosting and a peach filling. The cake was not too dry, had a beautiful color, and was full of cinnamon flavor. The crumbs on top also added a really nice crunch. The cream cheese frosting was a great counterpoint to the cake. Unfortunately, you couldn't taste the peach filling at all. If you are going to call your cupcake Peachy Keen, you should probably make sure it tastes like peach. Still, the cinnamon cake was delicious. Lauren gave this cupcake a 6 for taste and I gave it an 8. It also earned a bonus X-Factor score of 4 for the amazing cinnamon cake aspect.

Peachy Keen score: Appearance (11) + Taste (14) + X-Factor (4) = 29

Our next competitor is Lavender Moon's Grand Marnier Orange Chocolate. Spoiler alert: this was our favorite cupcake. As for appearance, it wasn't flashy, but there's just something about a yellow cake and chocolate frosting that calls to mind birthday parties and great cupcake childhood memories. The chocolate frosting had a sassy crimped swirl and it was shiny and really appealing. In fact, the cupcake looked like the top of a soft service ice cream cone and who wouldn't want that? Lauren and I both gave it a 5; it certainly wasn't flashy, but it looked fun.

As for Taste....the first word out of both of our mouths was, "mmmmm." Repeatedly. This one hit all the spots; fantastic blending of all the flavors (chocolate, vanilla, and orange) and each was distinct without being overwhelming. They each unfolded in your mouth, like when you are tasting a great wine. The orange really complimented the chocolate and the contrast of the dense cake with the light frosting was really nice. It tasted expensive and gourmet, which is what you want in a specialty cupcake. Lauren gave it a 9 (docking one point for a bit of a dry texture), and I gave it a 9 as well. This cupcake also earned a bonus X-Factor score of 3 for the amazing balance of flavors.

Grand Marnier Orange Chocolate score: Appearance (10) + Taste (18) + X-Factor (3) = 31

Second round goes to Lavender Moon, but this was a close one.

Round Three! Buzz Bakery's 9:30 Club cupcake vs. Lavender Moon's Flourless Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt

Buzz's 9:30 Club cupcake is a play on the classic Hostess cupcake. It got a good score for appearance; it was again a small cupcake, but the frosting was shiny black and the white swirls were cute in the way of a Hostess cupcake. For appearance, both Lauren and I assigned a 7.

Unfortunately, the first word out of Lauren's mouth when tasting the 9:30 Club was "yuck." The cake was VERY dry and while the icing was delicious (light and chocolatey with great depth), the cake was just terrible. Neither of us finished this one due to the problematic cake texture and you couldn't taste the vanilla whipped filling at all. A dud all around. Lauren and I both gave it a 3. We were a bit kind though and assigned 2 X-factor bonus points for the cute overall look and the actually delicious frosting. 

9:30 Club score: Appearance (14) + Taste (6) + X-factor (2) = 22

And the final cupcake of the day was Lavender Moon's Flourless Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt. As far as appearance goes, this cupcake looked like a brownie with chocolate icing on top. Sounds good in theory--but in reality, the top looked kind of dry (with the brownie crackles) and the crunchy topping was kind of mystifying. Was it almonds? Caramel? Sea salt? No way to know. Lauren also raised the point that it's not as visually appealing when the cake and the frosting are all the same color. Lauren ended up giving this cupcake a 6 for appearance and I went with a 5. It was kind of meh. 

Turning to taste, oh boy was this cupcake rich. Like TOO rich. You expect a rich and dense chocolate flavor with a flourless cake, but this was too much. There was also a big problem in that the cake didn't appear completely baked. It had the texture of brownies that haven't been cooked all the way through (too moist) and when we took it out of the wrapper, it was definitely top heavy. There was a huge imbalance to the flavors; we got a bit of the almond, but the sea salt was completely absent. And it needed the salt to break up the chocolate. The frosting was also overwhelming in its sweetness. If you wanted a light summer cupcake--this is NOT what you would reach for. Lauren and I both gave it a 5. There was a potential for an X-factor bonus, especially with the gluten-free, but at the end of the day, it had too many problems to get a bonus.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Almonds and Sea Salt score: Appearance (11) + Taste (10) + X-factor (0) = 21.

Final scores! 

Buzz Bakery = 65

Lavender Moon Cupcakery = 81

Highest scoring cupcake = Lavender Moon's Grand Marnier Orange Chocolate with a score of 31. 

Lowest scoring cupcake =Buzz Bakery's Flower Power with a score of 14. 

As a final note, the inside of Lavender Moon's Cupcakery was really adorable. Lots of pink (yay!) and nice whimsical touches to the furnishings. Buzz Bakery is first and foremost a coffee house, so it's bright and loud, and not really conducive to the quiet contemplation of the fabulousness of cupcakes.

Winner: Lavender Moon by a landslide.

The aftermath.

The How Novel Bookclub: 1984 Part II

Welcome back, gentle readers! Yes, it's been a while since we revisited George Orwell's seminal novel of a dystopian future, 1984, but it's time to put on your reading glasses and thinking caps and get back to it!

In our last session, we talked about Part I of 1984 with a focus on the historical context of the novel. I noted that Part I seemed to be more or less all set-up and was weak on actual plot. It was all hella depressing. But now we are forging ahead to Part II!

And NOW we're getting somewhere.

Summary of Part II (from Penguin Books):

Much to Winston’s surprise, the woman, Julia, slips him a note which says “I LOVE YOU.” They arrange to meet secretly and soon become lovers. They rent a room above the antique shop from the kindly owner, Mr. Charrington. At the height of Winston’s affair with Julia, he is approached by an Inner Party member named O’Brien whom Winston has long suspected of being a subversive. On the pretense of discussing one of Winston’s Newspeak articles, O’Brien invites him to his home. When he arrives there, Winston is amazed at the amenities available to the Inner Party about which Outer Party members might only dream. One of these luxuries is a telescreen that can actually be turned off for privacy. O’Brien reveals to Winston that the Brotherhood, a mutinous underground organization, does exist, and he makes arrangements to give Winston a copy of a book which details the control techniques that Party uses. Excited about the prospects of helping overthrow the government, Winston takes the book to the room above Mr. Charrington’s shop. However, before he can make any plans or even finish the book, he and Julia are arrested in the room that had been their refuge. They discover that quiet Mr. Charrington is actually a member of the Thought Police. He and O’Brien had been working together to trap Winston. 

Part II has a lot going for it: sex, intrigue, secret societies, and lots of foreshadowing. Let's just say that it's clear things are not going to end well for Winston and Julia. After all, we spent the entirety of Part I learning how insidious, omnipresent, and omniscient the Party is.  There's definitely a sense of a ticking bomb in the background during all the scenes where Winston and Julia have a tryst. In a book like 1984 if your main character is ever happy and hopeful, it's pretty clear that things are going to go bad pretty soon.

It's a credit to Orwell abilities as a writer that when the axe falls, it is still a surprise. Part II contains a large portion of Goldstein's book (given to Winston and Julia by O'Brien).  This book is essentially a textbook of the revolutionary group, The Brotherhood, and details the rise of the Party as well as it's techniques. Orwell painstakingly differentiates the Party's totalitarian ideology from others the reader may already be familiar, and in a move I thought was interesting, explains that the Party's power and doctrine arose in the twentieth century because "human equality had become technically possible." With the development of machine production, "it was no longer necessary for [human beings] to live at different social or economic levels. Therefore, from the point of view of the new groups who were on the point of seizing power, human equality was no longer an ideal to be striven after, but a danger to be averted."

I have to be perfectly honest though--the large section of Goldstein's book was a bit of a slog to get through. It's interesting in theory, but the plot was just starting to get going in Part II and it feels like it comes to a screeching halt so Orwell can finally explain the origins of the Party and WHAT IT ALL MEANS. However, it does serve the purpose of making the reader forget about that ticking time bomb....so when the Thought Police bust into Winston and Julia's secret getaway and Mr. Charrington is revealed as a party agent it's shocking. If 1984 was a tv show, the end of Part II would be a smash cut to commercial with lots of dramatic music. Basically, it was a big DUN moment.

I also want to take a moment to talk about Julia. I found her a fascinating character. It was not a surprise to me that the first place she takes Winston is a secluded grove in the country. She has a bit of a "child of the forest" vibe where she thinks only of the moment and only commits acts of rebellion against the Party to the extent it serves her pleasure. Sex, food, make-up--all of her acts of revolution are self-centered and serve nobody but herself. But she still is more of a radical than anyone Winston has ever met and joins the Brotherhood as readily as him. Through all of Part II I wondered whether in a normal world (like our world) Winston and Julia would have ever even looked twice at age other. I think the clear answer is no.

And 1984 isn't a love story. Despite the fact that it gets the plot moving, I get the feeling that Orwell doesn't view their relationship as anything more than a means to an end. It fans the flame--not of passion, but of rebellion inside Winston and finally gives him hope. Though even in the throes of his affair, Winston knows it won't last. There was a moment, after his first tryst with Julia, when he looked at her naked body and thought, "In the old days...a man looked at a girl's body and saw that it was desirable, and that was the end of the story. But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred." The Party takes everything. Winston also has a lot of internal monologues about how he constantly expects the Thought Police to catch them at any moment. Not that this is anything new for Winston--from the moment he writes "Down with Big Brother" in his diary in Part I, Winston knows the writing is on the wall. And yet, when the inevitable crash occurs it's still a shock.

Predictions for Part III: Winston gets tortured and then killed. The book started depressing and I don't expect it to get cheery anytime soon. Sigh.

Living Social Doughnuts

Remember that cupcake baking class I took through Living Social? Remember how AWESOME it was? Well, I went and did it again this time with doughnuts.

Unlike cupcakes, where I would say I possess some skill, I have absolutely zero experience with doughnuts. I always figured they were outside the realm of possibility for me because they involve frying. I'm such a klutz that me + burning hot oil never really seemed like a great combination. But guess what? It's easier than I expected! Especially when you have someone pre-make the dough and have all your ingredients laid out for you.

Joining me this time at Living Social's 918 F Street kitchen was my Mom, Aunt Kim (who could practically open her own bakery), and my friend Kristin. Running the class was Christine Schaefer, the pastry chef at District Doughnut, which is opening up a storefront in the DC area very soon. As I mentioned, the dough was all prepared for us, so we were tasked with rolling it out, frying the doughnuts, and mixing the glazes and toppings. Of course, decorating the doughnuts was the best part!

We made three types of doughnuts: cinnamon and sugar, original glazed, and Boston cream. The Boston cream were definitely the highlight, after all they are covered with chocolate ganache. We started out by rolling out the dough and cutting the doughnuts with biscuit cutters. There weren't enough small round cutters for everyone, so our doughnuts didn't actually have holes. Turns out the holes help prevent air from filling the middle of the doughnuts and making them flip over while frying, but we didn't have any big problems. We also ended up with way more than a dozen doughnuts each--turns out we had enough dough for about 2 dozen each.

After cutting out the doughnuts from the dough, we put them on trays and they were taken away to rise for a bit. We then had to make the custard to fill the Boston cream doughnuts. I'd never made custard before, but it turns out it's really easy. It's really just boiling milk added to egg yolks. You then then mix it for a while until it thickens and all comes together. After finishing the custard, we made the ganache. Chocolate ganache is also SUPER easy and amazingly delicious. Typically you mix bittersweet chocolate with boiling heavy cream, but we used semi-sweet chocolate to top our doughnuts.

After making the custard, ganache (and the glaze which is just powdered sugar and milk), it was time to fry the doughnuts! The most important thing about the frying is to make sure you keep the oil at the correct temperature. This meant constantly checking it with a thermometer and adjusting the burner controls. You place the doughnuts in the oil and fry for about a minute on each side. They end up golden brown with a crispy outside and white line around the middle (this is the sign of a good fry).

We set the doughnuts aside and let them drip off some oil and cool off and then it was time to decorate them! The cinnamon and sugar were super easy--just roll them in the cinnamon and sugar mix and there you go. Glazed was very much the same, you just roll the fried doughnuts around in the glaze and set them aside to let the glaze harden. The Boston cream were the most fun. First we put holes in the sides of the doughnut and then piped custard into the middle. Then we rolled the tops of the doughnuts into the ganache.

And then all that remained was to indulge in the doughnuts! I probably ate more than I should have--at least one of each and some extras along the way. I mean we had some ganache left over, so we had to find some use for it, right? The use was for it to get into my tummy as soon as possible. And the doughnuts were delicious, if I do say so myself.

Piping the custard into the doughnuts. 

Our finished doughnuts!

Inside the Boston cream doughnut.

Kristin tucks into a still wet glazed doughnut.

We merry band of bakers!

Cooking Light Mini Turkey Meatloaves

Mini things are cute. In fact, I'm pretty sure that mini versions of something are one of Rules of Cute. Which means this meal is not only delicious and easy, it's also adorable.

Well, as adorable as a pile of meat can be.

And when I say it's easy, I mean it's SUPER easy. Can you throw a pile of ingredients into a bowl? Can you use a scoop to put it in a muffin tin? Then you can make this recipe. Sure, it also calls for browning some onion first, but honestly you could probably skip that step (as long as you like your onion a little crunchy).

Seriously, just throw all the shit into a bowl. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I'm talking about Cooking Light's mini turkey meat loaves. I came across this recipe while perusing a cookbook owned by a friend. These little meatloaves are packed with protein and flavor and at 142 calories a pop, you can double your portion size to feel extra full without the guilt.

A couple alterations I made to the recipe: I used Italian seasoning breadcrumbs instead of the regular bland kind (you'll find that they pack a lot more of a delicious flavor punch). I also used dried parsley instead of fresh; unless you have a herb garden it's not worth the trouble or expense. Finally, I skipped the step where you brush the top of the loaves with the ketchup mixture; I just dumped the ketchup and hot sauce into the bowl and mixed it all up with the meat and other ingredients.

Oh, and I doubled the recipe to get three meals out of it. But you could easily make up to a dozen of these suckers if you are feeding a crowd.

Mmmm....turkey balls. 

Cooking Light's Mini Turkey Meatloaves

Ingredients 

Cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces ground turkey breast
1 large egg white
3 tablespoons ketchup, divided
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Combine onion, breadcrumbs, and next 7 ingredients (through egg white) in a large bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons ketchup. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture into each of 3 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; place muffin tin on a baking sheet.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon ketchup and hot pepper sauce in a small bowl. Brush ketchup mixture over meat loaf tops. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°.

If you double the recipe, you also bake the mixture into one eight by four-inch loaf. Bake time may increase to about 45 to 50 minutes; use a thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165°.

Maui, Day 2: The Hana Highway

After our helicopter trip on The Big Island, our ship headed back to Maui for another day! Instead of booking an excursion through the cruise line, we decided to rent a car for the day and drive along the famous and scenic Hana Highway. We were also hoping to go hiking and see some waterfalls.

I think waterfalls are awesome. It's just kind of a thing with me.

Time for fun facts! "The Hāna Highway is a 68-mile long stretch of Hawaii State Routes 36 and 360. It takes about 2.5 hours to drive when no stops are made as the highway is very winding and narrow and passes over 59 bridges, 46 of which are only one lane wide. There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hāna, virtually all of it through lush, tropical rainforest. At the end of the Hāna Highway (actually past Hāna in a clockwise direction around eastern Maui) is the ʻOheʻo Gulch, also known as the "Seven Sacred Pools". This series of waterfalls and pools is located inside the Haleakala National Park."

I have wanted to see the Seven Sacred Pools ever since I first saw the movie IQ (starring Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins, and Walter Matthau). I am sure you know it; it's about Albert Einstein trying to fix up his genius niece with a local mechanic. It's a really fun romantic comedy, and there is a scene where Meg Ryan is talking about the Seven Sacred Pools at a dinner party and shocking the mathematics professors by talking about how the water is so aerated it feels like a giant tongue is licking you.

Unfortunately, the Seven Sacred Pools are located at the very end of the Hana Highway, and we didn't have enough time to drive all the way there, hike around, and make it back to the ship in time for our departure. So that's going to have to wait for next time. But we still had an amazing day full of sunshine, rainforests, waterfalls, and beaches.

We had the benefit of Chris and Kent's previous visit to Maui to help guide us on our way; and they knew of a farm that allowed hiking up to its three (!!) scenic waterfalls. So we drove about an hour from the port in our shiny rental car and hit the trail! As promised there were three waterfalls, each distinct in its own way and each trail had its own challenges. Some had us balancing along former canals...while to get to another we had to pick our way across rocks in a stream. Another had a really steep incline/decline--it's a good thing there were lots of trees trunks and branches to grab on to!

 Waterfall #1

Waterfall #2

Waterfall #3 (and a swimming hole).

After our hike, we hit the road to cruise the Hana Highway. It was completely twisty and turny, and around each bend was another stunning vista. Palm trees, bamboo forests, cliffs, beaches, and amazing views of the ocean...it was all there. Chris knew of a secluded black sand beach that we visited and it felt like we were the only people in the world. Well, until the pickup truck pulled up and some more tourists joined us. Maybe it wasn't as secret a beach as we thought. In any event, just driving along the road was a pleasure. 

And next time I am going to make it to the Seven Sacred Pools!

Monique and Kent at the top of the trail!

Baby pineapples...interesting fact, pineapples are not a fruit, they are a flower. That's why they don't have seeds!

The black sand beach. Ah, paradise. 

Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites

A friend of mine (hi, Lisa!), posted a picture and recipe on Facebook the other day of a grain-free, gluten-free, but absolutely YUMMY looking chocolate chip cookie alternative.

I was curious. And hungry.

The recipe uses no flour, no eggs, no oil...but it does use a can of chickpeas and a bunch of chocolate chips. Along with honey, peanut butter, baking powder, vanilla....and that's it! I plugged the recipe into my calorie counter, and it was a bit over 100 calories. Not bad, especially when compared to a normal chocolate chip cookie (which has about 150 calories), but I figured I could do better. Specifically, by using the peanut butter substitute, PB2, which cuts about 85% of the calories from traditional peanut butter.

I made a couple of other tweaks as well. I used half regular PB2 and half chocolate PB2, to try to get some more chocolatey flavor. I also used half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips...mostly because I have an opened bag of peanut butter chips in the freezer and need to use them up.

And they turned out REALLY yummy.

The texture of these is interesting, I am calling them "dough balls" because they didn't set as much as a cookie and had a kind of creamy texture, probably due to the chickpeas. They were definitely cooked all the way through (I actually cooked them almost twice as long as called for), and I loved how soft they were. They didn't fall apart or anything and were browned on the outside. But if you prefer a crunchy cookie treat, you might want to try something else.

One more note, I used one of those "air" baking sheets, which is probably why they took so long to bake. In my experience these types of baking sheets take way longer than traditional rimmed dark baking sheets, so make sure you check on your dough bites after 10 minutes! I would also recommend eating these warm, either fresh from the oven or warmed in the microwave. When the chocolate is melty...mmmm.

As far as I can tell, the recipe originated from the baking blog, Texanerin. Here's my (modified) recipe with the nutritional info!

Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites

Prep Time: 8 min
Cook Time: 17 min
Yield: 17 dough bites

1¼ cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel (1 15.5 oz. can)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup PB2 (I used half regular, half chocolate)
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I replaced some of the chocolate chips with some peanut butter chips)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a cookie scoop or wet hands, form into 1½" balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 17 minutes (10-15 if using a traditional cookie sheet).

Calories: 77 per dough bite (based on 17 servings per recipe)
Fat = 2 g
Protein = 3 g
Sugar = 8 g