Treats for appetites of every size
Summer has this really annoying way of seeming like it stretches on forever until all of a sudden the other end of it is almost here and you’re running out of time. Last weekend, my mom and I were casually browsing travel books while we planned our trip. Today we are in a position, two weeks from being in London, where we should really have hotel accommodations booked.
This post starts with a new Saturday morning tradition. Last week was the first time we tried this, but since its been two weeks in a row, I’m calling it a tradition. I start a run from my parents’ new house and my mom starts to walk. I go out around to the beach and back, and it times out perfectly (like, arriving-at-the-door-at-the-exact-same-time perfectly) that we meet at the bakery we always used to go to from their old house.
Thursday marked the end of my two year commitment to Teach for America. These two years have been far more challenging, meaningful, and transformative than I possibly could have imagined at the front end. There were days that I just wanted to go home and forget by watching hours of Netflix. There were other days that I couldn’t contain my excitement to the point that I had to call three separate people to tell the story before I could finally calm down. But most of all, TFA was amazing because of the people I met.
Before getting into this week’s post, I of course have to say Happy Father’s Day to the best Daddy-O a girl could ask for! Love you! I’m sad I don’t get to spend the day with him, but in five days I’ll finally be moving back to Massachusetts and will be able to see him all the time! Also, in light of that, my dad recommended a theme for this week: my Parting Post from Passaic.
This was both an amazing and absolutely terrible idea. I’ve had Serious Eats The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe saved on my Pinterest for literally about 3 years. In that recipe, Kenji, who runs the food lab (a science person’s dream baking blog) painstakingly adjusts every ingredient in chocolate chip cookies until he arrives at his ideal. And I finally gave it a try.
Happy Mother’s Day! As is my tradition (if two years can be considered a tradition), I’m dedicating this week’s post to my amazing mom, who also happens to be my best friend. Love you, mom! Yesterday, when I was wondering what to bake, I called her for ideas. Normally, I would go the coconut route, but I feel like I’ve done that a lot recently, and since she won’t actually get to enjoy the treat, it seemed more mean than thoughtful.
I love breakfast. It combines everything I like in a single meal. Eggs. Cheese. Bacon. Carbs. Sweets. It can be warm and savory. It can be refreshing and simple. Many things that normally would not necessarily qualify as a meal find their way into breakfast. Smoothies, which are really just glorified frappes, become nutritious at breakfast. French toast, which we should all just admit is a vehicle for syrup and sugar, is a mainstay at any self-respecting breakfast establishment. It really is a surprisingly versatile meal.
“Pride keeps you warm on Easter.” That’s what my mom said to me as we speed-walked to church this morning in the bitterly cold wind wearing pretty dresses meant for much warmer weather. Being back in Massachusetts for the holiday, it really does seem like winter will never end. There actually is still snow on the ground. And I’m not just talking the snow piles in parking lots at the mall. In my parents’ backyard, there is snow.
Today is my last blog post of 2014, and what a year it has been. There have been a lot of changes, both good and bad, and, honestly, I’m kind of ready to leave it behind. A new year always holds such promise for fresh starts and trying new things, and I could use that right about now.
This was the first weekend that really felt like the holiday season. It was cold, curl-up-inside-with-a-book weather, and it took a significant amount of self control not to turn on Christmas music while I was baking (I have a rule with myself – no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving). So, when my aunt Anne texted me a picture of what she was baking, I immediately asked for the recipe.