Butterbeer in Harry Potter Land!

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butterbeer, Florida, Harry Potter, Orlando

So I’m back from Florida and have yet to cook/bake anything that isn’t eggs.  You all forgive me, right?  I had a fantastic time and did consume some good eats and drinks, so it sounds like it’s time for some recaps!

I know you’re supposed to save the best for last, but I can’t help posting about this first.  And actually, the main draw of Orlando for all of us was to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Islands of Adventure, so we went there on the first day.

January seems like it’s the best time to go to these parks because the weather is perfect (not hot!) and the lines are short, or at least almost always moving!  The first ride we rode happened to be the best ride EVER.  It’s Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is the one that’s inside Hogwarts (!).  Freaking incredible.  If you’ve never been on it, you basically feel like you’re flying.  Enough said.

The other major highlight of HP world was the butterbeer.  My expectations weren’t very high because I knew they had two versions that were cold, one being frozen.  While reading the books, I had always imagined butterbeer to be a warm beverage, but evidently J.K. Rowling approved both concoctions at Universal.

Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet

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agar agar, cakes, chocolate, Daring Bakers, fancy, France, matcha, mousse, pastry cream, whipped cream

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro.  She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

Wait, what??  That’s exactly the reaction I had.  We didn’t learn those words in my year of French in college.  An entremet is basically a layered dessert (think trifle) and the biscuit joconde imprime is in this case the part that contains it (edible sponge cake bowl, anyone?).

This is my third month as a Daring Baker, and the first challenge that has really made me shake in my boots, so to speak.   (Note: This Texan is bootless, unfortch.)  As with crostata and Stollen, I had never made an entremet, much less a sponge or even a rolled cake.  That didn’t stop my visions from being lofty, though.  Oh, the ideas I had for the joconde and the top of the entremet…

What actually did happen isn’t bad, especially for the mini/almost disasters that occurred.

Here is how my experience went. 

Wordless Wednesday: Sunsets

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Florida, Harry Potter, Kennedy Space Center, Orlando, rollercoaster, Universal Islands of Adventure, Wordless Wednesday

For more WW, click here.

Florida Bound!

My life of doing nothing needs a break, so I’m going on vacation.  Actually, I’m meeting up with some friends in Orlando and we’re going to Disney World!  I’ve never been to either Disney park, so I’m excited about that, but even more so about hanging out with my lovely chums.

About doing nothing – I have been doing lots in the kitchen, but as you can see, there aren’t any blog posts to show for it.  Instead, I am sporting this giant carry-on full of macarons.  Yep, two more batches of the Diva Cookies (as Rachel and I refer to them) have been cranked out, leaving me a complete and utter slacker in all other things food-related (read: eating things that were either frozen and/or to go).  Just so you know, they’re not yet filled because I worried that that would make them even more fragile.

How I fly with macarons, apparently (two containers taped on top of each other):

I also did my did my Daring Baker duty, which took up quite a bit of time this week.  If you’re curious as to what this month’s challenge was, check back Thursday.   It’s fancy.

And dang, I just realized I forgot my headphones/earbuds/things that project soundstuffs into my ears.

Wordless Wednesday: Walk

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cactus, leaves, San Antonio, Texas, walk, winter, Wordless Wednesday

For more WW, click here.

Macaron Making: First Attempt!

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almonds, baking, chocolate, cookies, eggs, France, gluten-free, macarons

First off: these are NOT my macarons, though I wish they were!

(“What, you mean you don’t label your desserts that are on display in your bakery case in the kitchen?”)

They are the first macarons I’ve ever had and were at La Boîte Cafe, which is a food truck reused shipping container in Austin.  This was back in September, and I wasn’t even aware of the existence of macarons until a little over a year ago, thanks to the food blogging world.  You don’t really see macarons ’round here* is basically what I’m getting at, so when I found out about them, I was instantly intrigued.

* Okay, that’s not true.  I had a really terrible one here in SA at a certain place, but maybe they were just really old.  Their croissants are good at least.

So pretty, yummy, and what’s that – tricky to make?  Well, I must!

On Saturday I’m going to Florida and have promised my macaron-loving friend Katie that I’d be armed with some.  That’s a pretty ballsy commitment for someone who has never made any, but I finally gave them a go today!

Before getting started, I read Demystifying Macarons by Helene of Tartelette multiple times, which made me feel quite a bit more comfortable about the whole process.  Highly recommended if you’re feeling the urge to bust out a batch of these finicky babies.  She is the Master!

So…how did it go? 

Kale Smoothie Madness!

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bananas, easy, fruit, gluten-free, healthy, kale, kiwi, kiwifruit, orange juice, pineapple, quick, recipes, smooth, vegan, vegetarian

What’s all this fuss about astrology lately?  I’ve never really been into it, but will admit that when I found out my sign would change, it made me sad for some reason.  Of course then I read that it only affects those who aren’t out of diapers yet, so hooray.  (poor babies.)

This post can be an example of why I’m a total Aquarius.  You’ve probably seen some kale smoothie recipes floating around on the blogosphere, right?  Being a somewhat recent kale fanatic who loves smoothies, I was instantly on board.  I decided to try out a few of these recipes and make my own, then report to you.  Consider it my contribution to making the world a better place.

Annnd I had to be weird and make faces out of food again.  I can’t help it.

Candy from Poland!

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Cadbury, candy, chocolate, Poland

A few days ago, I received a package filled with chocolates from Poland!

How did this happen?  Well, I have a lovely Polish friend named Sylwia who sent them with a Christmas card.  She is one of the many ladies of the world that I’ve gotten to know through being a hardcore Flight of the Conchords fan.  Yep, some of us exchange Christmas cards every year.  It’s heartwarming in a nerdy way, isn’t it? :P

Anyway, I get really excited about foreign food, especially candy!  One of my favorite stores is World Market and I can spend ages in the food section.  Going to supermarkets was also something I got really excited about in New Zealand (heck, I love grocery shopping in general!).  So I thought it would be fun to share these candies here because I can’t read Polish and therefore had no idea what I’d be biting into. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Pyros

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Wordless Wednesday

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Peanut Butter Frosting

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baking, chocolate, cupcakes, easy, frosting, icing, peanut butter, quick, recipes

How have I never posted anything with peanut butter and chocolate??

It’s totally one of my favorite combos, so this is blasphemy.

But guess what?  Yesterday I hooked these two up in a tasty way: peanut butter frosting-topped chocolate cupcakes!

Tomorrow is Jill’s birthday, but a group of us celebrated it last night.  Chocolate/peanut butter is her favorite combo, so while I was unsure of what to make her, there was never a question in the flavor department.