Carrot Cake

Over dinner today, which my roommate catered, we had a discussion about zucchini casserole and the rising epidemic of young kids who have actually managed to convince themselves (and their willing parents) that to eat vegetables would be akin to sticking one’s head in a vat of, say, a very concentrated acid.

We concluded with the very astute observation that perhaps this was why, all trends considered, carrot cakes have that nifty little anti-nutritional, sans-essential-vitamins carrot on the top. In fact, I’m pretty sure that that sugary faux carrot probably constitutes more daily servings of vegetables for the average modern-day … Read more

Chunky Cheesecake Brownies

This chunky cheesecake brownie recipe has gotten me through mountains and miles, thick and thin, extraterrestrial encounters and existential crisis. Okay, maybe not the mountains. Think I’m exaggerating? Well, think again. These brownies have served the usual functional:

  • Potluck desserts
  • Get-together snacks
  • Gifts
However, they have also served rather less usual functions (or still typical, depending on your habits), including:
  • Bribery
  • Excuses to meet people (and it works!)
  • A full two days’ worth of lesson plans for my Academic Writing class
That last one is my most recent excuse for whipping up a batch of this recipe, and probably the
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Strawberry Coffee Cake

So this past Thursday–as on every Thursday–I went to the farmer’s market just down the block where merchants flock to sell their fresh wares and apparently no baked goods except those produced in large-scale commercial kitchens are allowed. (Go figure.) Still, I love this weekly market, and my friend and I have frequented it so often that we’ve become–to my eternal delight–regulars! The bolani man and the produce guy know our names, and will usually slip some little extra goodies into our bags. Like any well-formed insecure person, I like to please, and so I usually get something every time … Read more

To Start With: Some Sink-Side Confessions

Okay, I have a few things to admit. That’s what confessions are for, right? So here it is.

Confession #1: Up until maybe yesterday afternoon, when I realized that I would be teaching a full-fledged course on new media this summer, I had never entertained serious ideas about creating a real, as-down-to-earth-as-a-potato (that’s pomme-de-terre, or “apple of the earth” in French for you non-Francophiles) food blog. I started one for myself on blogspot called Simply Scrumdiddlyumptious last year, and since then I’ve spammed my Facebook feed with links to it that received about as much attention as the Backstreet Boys … Read more