Summertime and the Baking's Easy...

I hate to be posting food pictures that don't include my own, but summertime is here and I won't be starting up my baking again until tonight. I just could not wait that long to post again! I'm sure you understand.

In the name of all things summer, I've been spending as much time as possible outside. Enduring the heat is no easy task, so I've been making sure it's all in the name of deliciousness.  That being said, I've got pictures of me EATING tasty food all over town, and a wonderful post from BuzzFeed that did NOT cause me to drool all over my keyboard...

First things first, let's talk about what I ate. Here we have Justin cooking up some delicious bison burgers and grilled zucchini. Oh, you think that's all you can cook on a grill? Keep reading...

Oh watermelon, how I love thee. I know you're excited about my watermelon cupcakes that I'll be showcasing sometime in the next week or two. They may include Oreos in a way you never thought possible... Until now!

Okay, I'm not eating here. But I was about to run a Muddy Buddy, just so that I could eat MORE! That's me dreaming about food.

Below we have Ellie's Old Fashioned Donuts from the Franklin Farmer's Market. I believe these were pumpkin and covered in cinnamon and sugar. And honestly, they melted in my mouth.  Not the way a Krispy Kreme does. No sir - better! They melted in the way really moist, deep fried cake should. Just kind of mmmnom and then into nothingness. And then the crispy crust on the outside? Oh gosh. Now I'm just speaking in Donut. I think that's a romance language.

I took a break from eating for this picture. And yeah, I may have eaten a strawberry cupcake after that picture was snapped. Let's not judge. I shared with Justin and Bo Dog! C'mon people, I'm trying to prep you all for what's about to happen to your minds. And by that, I mean that you'll need a mop to wipe up whatever is left of your brains after I bring the heat. Ready??

Who's ready to put that summer heat to good use??? I know I am! Now that we've got a working grill on apartment property, I plan to fully utilize BuzzFeed's list of 17 Desserts You Can Make On The Grill. Let's talk about my mindset right before my world changed: opened this link, went googly eyed, mouth dripped - I mean dropped!, and then I instantly opened my blog and hurriedly typed in order to share it with everyone!

My first and most exciting attempt will be to make cookies on the grill...because why have I never thought of this? Followed very closely (and possibly instantaneously) by the chocolate cherry ricotta grilled pizzas.

What's your favorite??

Summer Strawberries & Banana Jokes

It's a slippery slope when you start stealing your dad's jokes. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if I didn't have four overly ripe bananas sitting on my counter Friday afternoon. So I got to thinking, and usually thinking leads to baking...

I went a little nuts this weekend. And by nuts, I mean fruits. I went a little fruits this weekend! I got my new shipment of Bake It Pretty goods - cupcake liners, striped paper straws & a little heart shaped cookie cutter - and I was itching for a weekend of solid baking. After a run with Justin and our Bo dog Saturday morning, I strolled over to the West End Farmer's Market and grabbed myself two pints of beautiful, sweet, bright red strawberries from Delvin Farms. I also grabbed a couple of Olive & Sinclair chocolate bars from The Produce Place because I was feeling kind of frisky. And by frisky, I mean hungry. And by hungry I mean...well, you get the point.

You can see the beautiful Bake It Pretty box that arrived on my doorstep! I love how quickly I receive their shipments, and how perfectly wrapped and packaged everything always is. Not to mention, their liners are so perfect and the color stays so well. I'm a big fan. Big. Huge!

As a side note, I couldn't resist posting this adorable, green strawberry. I mean look at it, it's ADORABLE.

Oh, Delvin Farms, you sure know how to make this girl happy...

So it began with Saturday night's dinner. I had fresh strawberries on the brain, and I had just conjured up a loaf of banana bread topped with Olive & Sinclair chocolate chunks. Without hesitation, I threw strawberries into my avocado, spinach & basil salad and thought, "Those would look damn fine in some cupcakes..." During dinner my mind wandered to strawberry cupcakes and warm banana bread.

Here's a close-up of the warm, moist banana bread fresh out of the oven!

So naturally, I baked strawberry cupcakes before bed. Because that's what any rational girl would do! In my excitement from baking the hand pies last week and the banana bread and strawberry cupcakes the night before, I decided that Sunday morning I was definitely going to top those cupcakes with strawberry meringue buttercream frosting.

With a lot (too much?) of energetic morning jumps and squirms of joy, I began separating eggs, measuring sugar, and getting a double boiler going. So far so good. I whisked and I whipped and I even did a little happy dance as I saw the meringue fluff up before my very eyes. Joy! But then a wee little needle deflated my ever-growing baking balloon as I slowly added in the strawberries and watched my meringue get too glossy and then boom. It was all over.  No more fluffy, whipped, marshmallow-like goodness. Just shiny, separated strawberry goop. Boyfriend liked it despite it being completely unappealing (visually), but I knew it wouldn't do. I was crushed, but I whipped up a quick batch of strawberry buttercream and vowed to try the meringue frosting again soon.

 As it turns out, the cupcakes were a pretty big hit!

I also made a batch of triple chocolate cookies which were amazing! But those pictures turned out kind of hideous, and honestly I'd rather not go into detail with what a bad picture of a chocolate cookie looks like.

Stay tuned for this weekend's post, as I'm going to attempt the meringue buttercream again and hope for more success. But not before I bake donuts! That's right folks, it's National Donut Day on Friday. So aside from heading to Krispy Kreme and/or Dunkin' to snag yourself a free donut, be sure to check out Friday's blog post! It's your patriotic duty!