i'd rather be baking

Here’s the thing. I really love cheese and ice cream. For this reason, I have no desire to be a vegan. But my stomach is not a fan of dairy. It’s taken awhile, but I’ve figured this out. Super lame. So I’ve been paying more attention and have found some great vegan cooking/baking resources, including The Joy of Vegan Baking. This is a really great book, and I’d recommend any curious baker checking it out, vegan or not (Portland peeps: I found mine at Powell’s for $13). It has lots of great tips to make your baking healthier, whether or not animal products are a concern. And as much as I love a rich dessert, we could all do with a bit more healthy in our lives, right?

I thumbed through the book for the first time while on my bike trainer the other day, and this quick bread immediately caught my eye. The combination of fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, and black olives is what sold me and made for one delicious bread. It’s hearty and flavorful without feeling overly heavy. We ate some with dinner that night and it was hard to wait that long!

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i don’t like making layer cakes. mostly because then i have to frost them – and that requires the offset spatula and a lot of patience. if i could figure out how to frost the whole dang thing with a pastry bag, i’d be in business. you know, pastry bag business.

But I actually got to spend Father’s Day weekend with, you know, my family. It’s a brilliant concept, and required cake. So I went for it, and tried to use the offset spatula as little as possible. And then we went to the beach.

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These cookies are evil in the best way. They’re kind of like Sue Sylvester – you might want to hate her, but you still laugh at her one-liners because they’re just so effortless.

My laptop charger broke the other day. If you wiggle the cord around just right, it might charge (probably not). You may need to weight it down or hold your mouth just right. Broken charger just when you’re ready to sell a laptop = the bad kind of evil. Peanut butter Snickers cookies = the good kind of evil.

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It’s that time of year again. Berries of all kinds are getting cheaper and prettier and I end up making multiple fruit-related impulse buys every week (I know, I really live on the edge), but for me the main food event of the summer is cherries. I love them dearly and though one can occasionally find some at a fancy market at odd times of the year, there’s something so different about true summer cherries. I fully understand that their growing season is short and that the growing process is tedious and difficult, so when I see their gorgeous crimson hues in the markets come June or July, I can’t help but bring home as many as possible.

I can very easily eat myself sick on fresh cherries alone, but I love the magic they create in the oven just as much. Desserts baked from fresh cherries are worlds apart from anything made with cherry pie filling from a can (although that’s tasty, as well). They make everything velvety rich and delicious, and need so little embellishment!

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We made it to Portland! We both jumped into work immediately upon arrival, so we’re still getting settled into the new house. But when I saw this delicious cake on Maria’s blog, it was first on my list to make once the kitchen was semi-organized. I mixed it up a couple of days ago, and effectively christened the new kitchen (including splattering some batter on a window screen). It was just the thing!

Life is especially busy right now, but I’m so glad I made time for this cake! It’s rich, moist, and delicious, and comes together so quickly. This isn’t my first chocolate loaf cake and honestly they can’t be beat. You’d better believe this is the only kind of cake I’m going to bake on a weeknight.

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