This is the way the year ends
This is the way the year ends
This is the way the year ends
Not with a bang
But a marshmallow.
2012, TS Eliot, Dating & Chocolate Truffle Stout Marshmallows
December 31, 2012 · By · 12 Comments
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes & Falling in Love
September 14, 2012 · By · 12 Comments
Do you remember when you first fell in love? When you first experienced that head-to-toe giddiness that seemed to make your brain go into overdrive, replaying blissful moments on loop until you thought your heart couldn’t beat any faster and your cheeks had no more room to stretch your smile?
I fell in love in October of my senior year of college. I sat on a bench overlooking a dam, drinking Starbucks and reading Ezra Pound’s poetry with a handsome blonde man. I told my creative writing class it was the way the autumn sun dusted the already orange dappled tree tops with an amber glow. I told the man it was his beard. In truth, it was the coffee… [Read more...]
hot mess tres leches cake & why it’s ok to delete your facebook
August 7, 2012 · By · 8 Comments
Last week my friend Don invited me to a surprise birthday party for his partner, Benjamin. When I asked what I could bring, he coyly asked, “Do you remember that tres leches cake you made that one time? Could you make that?!” Of course by ‘that one time,’ he meant a dinner party two and a half years ago. I had to take a minute to think back to it and, as I did, I found myself wondering, if Don remembered the cake two years later, was it really that good? [Read more...]
Big Summer Potluck: a gift on being present.
August 4, 2012 · By · 19 Comments
“If it’s meant to be, I’ll go.”
When I uttered those words to a friend who offered to buy my ticket for Big Summer Potluck back in February, I had no idea how true they’d be months later. By all accounts the cards were stacked against me to go. I had my debit card info stolen the day before tickets went on sale (hence the very generous offer to buy me a ticket until things were straightened out) and when the event sold out within minutes, I thought the universe was sending me a message and doubtfully put myself on the waiting list.
I was right about the universe, though it wasn’t sending the message I thought… [Read more...]
Blame Canada: A love letter to Philly
July 25, 2012 · By · 19 Comments
Dear Philly,
I don’t know how to say this, but it’s been a long time coming. When I was living out in the ‘burbs, I thought I knew you. I’d see you every so often for an afternoon, ride in on the stale-smelling R5 and spend the day falling in love with your cupcakes, your markets and yes, even your brunch. I wrote off the scoffs of haters who called you dirty and your citizens rude. I looked past your flaws and saw things differently: I thought your grit gave you charm and thought Philadelphians were honest and real.
Then, after two years of long-distance, I decided to commit. I moved into the city, doe-eyed and waiting to experience all that you had to offer. Trips home to car-dependent Connecticut affirmed my decision to live in Philly. I had a city life. I had things to do within walking distance. I had food trucks. I had ethnic restaurants. I had options. I tried new restaurants, I poked around new neighborhoods, and, for a little while, things were wonderful.
Then, something happened. [Read more...]
friends, readers, bloggers: lend me your ears (and comments…or, better yet, don’t)
June 26, 2012 · By · 9 Comments
I have a bit of a confession to make. For the past 27 years, I’ve suffered a terrible, incurable affliction.
I want people to like me. I know that we all do to some degree, but ever since kindergarten, I’ve felt an overwhelming need to be in everyone’s good graces. If there was a new kid in class, I felt a gravitational pull towards the spot next to them on the reading carpet. I was the first to volunteer to walk them to the office and I’d run to stand next to them in line in the cafeteria. This tended to either work in my favor or make the poor newbie feel smothered and overwhelmed, or just annoyed that I was so friendly and interested in them. In fact, it seemed that the less someone was inclined to be my friend, the harder I tried to make them like me.
It’s no surprise, then, that when I got a blog, I thought it would be yet another outlet for me to try to be clever and charming and adorable and witty in hopes of winning people over and making friends.
Some things are easier said than done. [Read more...]
accidentally vegan blackberry breakfast bars & a post on perfectionism
May 23, 2012 · By · 4 Comments
I’ll admit it. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist. I look at my blog and sigh with disappointment at the lack of consistency in posts and pictures. I’ve been operating sans camera since December, as many of you know, so I rely solely on my flash-less iPhone 3GS and am never satisfied with the lighting or quality of my pictures. Unfortunately for my blog and for you, dear reader, this often means that I won’t bother posting. I settle for sighing and letting the world think that I lapsed into a baking lull and have forgotten all about you [and baking]. That couldn’t be farther from the truth! [Read more...]
2011: a year in food, a year in change.
January 2, 2012 · By · 5 Comments
[just some of my favorites]
As I sat down to write this post, I wanted to talk about the past year in a way that wouldn’t ignore the downfalls, but still highlighted all of the huge accomplishments and change that happened this year. And, next to that, I intended to talk about what a major role food had in shaping my year. After deleting a few really wordy attempts at the start of a post, it clicked in my head that food and ‘everything else’ weren’t mutually exclusive.
