FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Postal Birthday Cakes

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Poppyseed Angel Food Cake

After flipping through the pages of a multitude of cookbooks for cakes to send out for Ariel, Val, and my gramma’s birthdays, I spotted a poppyseed angel food cake.  Angel food cake?  Everyone loves angel food cake!  I hoped that this recipe would be enough for three mini loaves as I got to carefully cracking the eggs.

Brown Eggs

I used the angel food cake recipe from In The Sweet Kitchen, which called for 1-1/2 cups egg whites (about 10 to 12 eggs).  Other than making a big ol’ pot of scrambled eggs for a group, I had never cracked this many eggs for a recipe.  I certainly had never separated this many whites from yolks.  Tedious, I tell ya!

Angel Food Cake Batter

I frothed and fluffed an entire mixer bowl of egg whites and anxiously awaited stiff peaks.  And then it was time for the second best part of this recipe, folding in the sugar and cake flour with my hands.  There’s something so therapeutic about hands-in-batter, hands-in-dough, hands-in-meatloaf, hands-in-anything.

Mailed Birthday Cake

And then the first best part of this recipe came into play – it made enough for three mini loaves and one regular sized loaf for yours truly.  I sampled some of the extra loaf and was so happy with how delicious the cake turned out.  I seriously want to make angel food cake all day errr-day.  This cake (without poppyseeds) and this frosting, everyday.  Yum!!

I carefully wrapped each loaf in plastic wrap and packed tightly with some paper stuffing.  I filled out cards with happy notes and sealed everything up.  And when I dropped each package down the mail chute, I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing I could be present for these birthdays and birthday hugs.  And when my eyes opened, I felt happiness in knowing that these packages will undoubtably relay that feeling.

Happy 30th, 29th, and 71st birthdays!  I love you and miss you tons!

The First Recruit

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2006

I knew that this would happen, convincing friends to move to Austin – I just didn’t know who or when.  Then Hansell called last month letting me know he was scheduling an April apartment hunting trip for an early May move.  I. Was. Stoked.  You see, Hansell and I lived together from 2006 to 2007 in Tampa (see the picture above from our college-style digs).  We loved our friends, we loved laughing, and among a gazillion other things we had in common, we loved food – a perfect recipe for a fast friendship.

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2007

And for every single thing we had in common, there were at least three things we didn’t have in common.  We’ve always joked about how living together forced us into a solid friendship, one that went right from non-existant to a best-ship.  And one that neither of us could have seen coming had we just met under normal circumstances.

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2008

We met through my college friend and his childhood friend, our roommate Lex (pictured above).  And I met him the day he moved in – no “interview”.  I think I was crying about a boy when he arrived.  I wouldn’t have blamed him if, at that moment, he felt instant regret about moving in with two 23 year old girls.  Today, it makes for a good story.

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2009

And then we had our share of hellos and goodbyes.  I moved to Dallas from 2008 to 2009.  And almost the moment after I returned to Tampa, I was throwing his farewell party because he accepted a temporary work position in London (picture above from said party).  We lived together briefly between my return and his departure.  I affectionately refer to that time as the “loveless marriage”, when we were both so busy that all we had time to talk about was whether or not he’d be home for dinner.

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2010

By the time he settled back in Tampa, a lot of our core group of friends had either moved or gotten married (or moved and gotten married).  There were occasions that brought everyone out from the woodwork (like the Shea’s FL/GA extravaganza pictured above).  But a lot of the time we steered clear of our old scene and ended up parking ourselves upstairs at Fly.  We spent countless weekend nights at that bar, getting nerdy about cocktails and dreaming up plans for the future.  At some point along the way, and probably while perched at that very bar, we planned our escapes from Tampa, again.

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2011

In the middle of 2011, Hansell resigned from his job and headed to Miami to develop something of his own.  And not so far behind him, I moved to Texas for the second time.  We kept in touch as often as two easily distracted friends could.  And every time we talked, I threw out a little plug for Austin.  He knew I wasn’t exaggerating, though.  I was happier here, lighter here, and anyone that knew me could tell.

I convinced him to visit last July, just as he was dreaming up plans to start a food-related app.  He loved it, and we not-so-jokingly joked about him moving here.  And after seven months of development, the app is no longer a dream – he’s here, in Austin, and on the verge of signing a lease.

So yes, I’m beyond excited to have a friend as close as family moving to my hood (so excited that I wrote a novel about it).  But!  What excites me even more is that his app goes live TOMORROW!!  So if you’re a restaurant lover and interested in finding and sharing fantastic dishes in your area, head on over to YumCrumb and see what it’s all about!

Another Pinsperation

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Quiche Stuffed Tomato

I go through phases of Pinterest-ing, but even on the good days I’m never that great.  I have, however, been extremely lucky on the few instances I’ve followed through on a Pinsperation.  Tonight’s inspiration came from Kelly’s inspiration that originated from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Gutted Tomatoes

FoodFash Tomato Cup Formula (yields 2 servings)

4 large tomatoes, tops removed and gutted

4 eggs

1/2 cup chopped protein (I used lump crab)

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Swiss)

1/4 to 1/2 cup diced veggies (I used 1/4 cup shallots)

salt and pepper to taste (S&P!)

Move oven rack to the middle of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk eggs until fluffy.  Add protein, cheese, and veggies and stir.  Add salt and pepper.  Place gutted tomatoes into an oven safe dish and then spoon mixture, carefully transferring even amounts of ingredients, into the tomatoes.  Sprinkle with Bake for 50 minutes, until the eggs are firm and cooked all the way through.  Remove the dish from the oven and move the oven rack up a notch.  Broil on high for 5 minutes or until cheese is browned.  Let stand for 10ish minutes before serving.  The flavors of the cheese and meat are much more apparent when these cups are still warm, but closer to room temperature.

Stuffed Tomatoes

I liked my protein/cheese/veggie combo, but would have preferred to have more color (like greener than green spinach!).  Other combinations on my mind are bacon/cheddar/bell pepper, sausage/gruyere/onion, or a veggie-filled spinach/feta/artichoke.  Any of these cups would be perfect for brunch and have me anxiously awaiting our next lake house breakfast shindig!