Yes, I have a TikTok account. My TikTok content is 85% based on who I follow and the content that I like (Disney, nerdery, happy dancing, humor) and 15% completely random content. For example, I'm currently watching the entirety of The Sound of Music in 5 minute clips. The VonTrapps just escaped the convent and are motoring to the hills. I hope they make it. By the way, Christopher Plummer's Georg VonTrapp is very much worth rewatching as an adult. Last week I bought two TikTok songs from ...
German Chocolate Cake
Did you know that German Chocolate Cake isn't actually German? It was created here in the US, but the chocolate used for it was a sweet baking chocolate created for the Baker's chocolate company by a man named Samuel German. It became called Baker's German's Chocolate and the cake created with it was named German's Chocolate Cake which became German Chocolate Cake.. This is all to say that today is WM's birthday, and I baked a German Chocolate cake from a mix created by noted German Elisabet ...
Easter Baking
Despite my griping on Friday the Easter baking went well. Three ham pies and three Easter breads were baked and (hopefully) will be enjoyed this week. The Easter breads I did at home, with an assist from my beloved Kitchen-Aid mixer's dough hook and a brand new bread proofing machine that my MIL purchased. My kitchen is chilly and I have trouble sometimes getting dough to rise. The proofing machine performs (IMO) comparably to letting the bread rise in the oven with the light on, but ...
Monday, Monday
It was a pretty good weekend! On Saturday I spent some time with Nephews A & B. A is 8 now (whaaaat?) and very much into Youtube and video games. B is 4 now (whaaaaaaaat?) and is very much into imaginative play. I am very much into A&B, even though I don't have a Youtube channel. And I baked another loaf of no-knead bread. Sunday found me digging in the garden beds so I could send a soil sample out to be tested. I've been using the same soil for years now and I'm pretty sure ...
We Made a Yule Log Cake!
But first, happy 18th birthday to my blog! Eighteen years ago today I moved from a flat HTML site with monthly updates to updating daily/a few times a day on Blogger. Most of the archives are online and navigable by going to ARCHIVES in the left hand bar and using the dropdown to find the months/years. Maybe NOW the blog can get a job and make me some money? Ok, NOW about the cake.Faced with a low-key Christmas after a very difficult year, I decided to spend my time and precious little ...
Sourdough Bread!
I have always loved sourdough bread. And while I'm a decent baker, making my own sourdough was never within reach. Sourdough differs from regular bread because it doesn't use conventional yeast. Instead, you grow your own yeast within your own bread starter. Water + flour + warmth = a yeasty concoction that helps (your bread) hang on. You dump a little flour/water in there to feed it and boom...starter. Easy, right?Not for me. I tried four times in the past to grow my own starter and never made ...
Baking in the time of..
Yeah, I'm tired of the coronavirus references too. But they're so easy! With no place to go on the weekends (and really no desire to ever leave my house again) I've taken to baking. To try and keep things under control, I only bake goodies on Sundays and we make them last the week. Many of these were featured on Instagram stories -- give me a follow there if you want unscripted, imperfect stories with a Jersey accent. The first weekend I baked chocolate chip cookie bars. These came from ...
Christmas Roundup!
December was a sugar-coated whirlwind of activities that didn't let up until the 26th, which begins WM and I lovingly call ... Sloth Week. Schools are closed and TNP is closed until January 2. That leaves us here in the House on Literary Lane with NO OBLIGATIONS! (other than dog care, housekeeping, hygiene, the usual.) The family was great to me as usual. I got both a drone and a guitar, making me 100% more annoying than usual. This year I baked fewer cookies than ever and it still ...
Peaches and Herb(s)
My herb garden is exploding with goodness! I have fresh basil and parsley whenever I want some, a load of thyme I don't know what to do with yet, and TONS of oregano. I harvested a bunch of it last weekend, thinking that I'd have enough dried oregano to gift all of my family and friends with some. I was designing "Angry Man Farms" labels in my head. I ended up with this much: Yeah. I am not good with estimating size or volume. And then I said to WM, "we should go to the ...
Written after kissing the cable to my house
Back online again! It turns out the problem I thought was solved here wasn't solved, and our Comcast (I will never get used to "Xfinity") service plonked yesterday morning, just as I was hooking up my laptop for my weekly work from home day. I ended up tossing on clothes (black top and navy sweater, because I didn't do laundry) and dashing into work. I made it by 10 am. Today the Comcast tech came and replaced the cable line. We are up and running and hopefully will be without problems forever ...
Currently: Super Bowl edition
Watching: The Super Bowl. I know. I'm not an Eagles fan, or really a football fan in general (I'm more a hockey/baseball person) but I am watching the hometown team VERY anxiously. For my family, my friends, my pretty city of Philadelphia, I want them to win. I'm angrily watching Justin Timberlake because if Janet Jackson doesn't come out and rip his pants off, I'm going to be pissed. Never forget. Win or lose, I'm DAMN glad-- -- oh he did NOT invoke the image of Prince there. Oh, I'll ...
Currently
Eating: Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle Crumb Bars. I had the ingredients on-hand today so I figured what the heck. They are tasty, but I had to bake them 15 minutes more than the recipe indicated for the middle to bake completely. That burned the bottom a bit, but I sliced off that part. Also, my streusel didn't clump up like it should have. I'll try them again for sure, but I think I'm going to bake it at 375 instead of 350 and adjust the streusel proportions so that it's chunkier. ...
