The Crumby Baker

So whenever the crumby husband and I finally got around to discussing cookie preferences, he not only said that my favorites were old lady grandmaw cookies, but was dumbfounded when I told him I didn't really chocolate chip cookies. He said that was just down right blasphemous--how can someone who loves to bake so much hate chocolate chip cookies? I don't know; I just did. Then my lovely coworker and fellow baker brought in his favorite recipe and I fell in love.

So what makes these chocolate chunk cookies so much better than anything else I've ever had? They aren't super sweet and they bake up oh so soft and chewy. I really love the saltiness of these cookies because they have just the right combination of bam! chocolate with some subtle saltiness to give them great depth. Whole wheat flour, nuts and rolled oats give them good texture and I swear you will not believe their "healthy"--alright so with 10 tablespoons of butter, I wouldn't exactly call these healthy, but in comparison to a standard chocolate chip cookie, you're much better off with these.

My garden is freakin awesome (especially pre-Winter 2009). Unfortunately that winter was just a bit too cold for too long for most of my tropical plants. I still love the look and layout of the garden space though and it was really what sold me on the house. The previous owners wanted to plant lots of edibles and butterfly attractants. Unfortunately most of the butterfly attractants didn't survive that winter either, but I do have plans to start bringing some back into the space.

The edibles are just fantastic though. There are two varieties of banana trees, two varieties of lemon trees, a satsuma tree, a key lime tree, and another mystery citrus that is still pretty young and hasn't produced fruit yet. There is some sugar cane I have yet to figure out a use for and a fig tree that the birds always seem to pick at before I do. There is a strawberry guava tree that I think will never produce fruit here because of winter temps. The grape vines that grow on a trellis above the walkway to the backyard are just gorgeous and our wedding picture standing underneath it is one of my favorites. All of that and those are just the big ones! We have lots of herbs too and whatever veggies I attempt to grow in a given year.

Of everything we have, nothing gets me more excited than the Meyer lemons. I'm like a giddy school girl when I pick the first one of the season and the last one makes me want to cry as if I'm saying goodbye to a good friend. This year the last one made an individual sized lemon icebox pie for National Pi Day on 3.14. This recipe is perfect for anyone who loooovvvvess lemon. It has a bamn! in your face lemony tartness that I loved. If by chance you are looking for a more subtle lemon pie check out Emeril Lagasse's recipe. I made it a while back and really liked it, but since he incorporates cream cheese it has a more mellow lemon flavor that I liked but wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

Although you can't argue with the simple truth that this recipe is divinely delicious, it actually holds a very special place in my heart because of a very very eventful summer in 2007. Even reminiscing now, I still can't believe how much happened in those few months. There was a new job, an old flame newly rekindled, new friendships forged, familial ties shattered and a devastating loss very dear to my heart.

In all the craziness of that summer, this recipe made two appearances and both birthday parties will stay with me always. The first was for my cousin's birthday. My grandmother was already quite ill then and we got the whole family together at her house. I still see it as if it were yesterday with my grandmother in bed with all of her grandchildren around her as I was cutting this cheesecake. It was the last thing I baked for my grandmother before she passed away.

The second appearance was for Meredith and Rhea's joint birthday party at the cabin--not an actual cabin, just a house in the burbs we all used to hang out at (but to us it was never just a house). Actually, let me rewind a bit. I know from experience exactly how intimidating our group of friends can be to meet. It's quite a large group and one time I actually got the full run down of how everyone knows each other. It's a very complicated web and no lie, that conversation lasted about 30 minutes.

Anyway, the very first time I met most of them, everyone was hanging out at The Bulldog. Blake and I somehow got around to a cheesecake discussion, and I couldn't rave enough about the Baklava Cheesecake. Although Blake has absolutely no recollection of meeting me that night, her enthusiasm for Baklava Cheesecake totally hooked me. I made it for the next party and I like to think this cheesecake sealed my fate. It's the first thing I ever made for these guys and we've been besties ever since.

So yea, I made this recipe for the first time in a long time this weekend and I laughed and cried when I started thinking about all the wonderful memories and I hope it becomes as special to you as
it is and will always be for me. :)

Every year our friends have an annual St. Patrick's Day crawfish boil. I'm sure I've said it before, but it is truly one of the highlights of my year. I look forward to it so much, that if for some moronic reason I ever moved away from New Orleans, I think I'd make a point to fly in for this party every year. We're a partyin group and as much as I LOVE Halloween, Mardi Gras, and New Year's...the crawfish boil is something quite special.

I've had these Irish Car Bomb cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen on my list of things to make for what seems like ages, and what better excuse to make them than St. Patrick's Day? I swapped out the butter/powdered sugar frosting for a swiss buttercream and all of my little tasters were loving the creamy richness. My favorite part was by far the Jameson chocolate ganache filling and it really makes me want to explore more with filled cupcakes.

I've been dying for an excuse to make all the messes that go along with this cake and when Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito say "this is a slightly showy, purely holidayesque affair" the real translation is: you really don't want go through all the bowls in your kitchen just for any old day, so save this one for when you have the time off from work to take on a. the baking & assembly and b. the ginormous sink-full of dishes.

When the host of our little family dinner shindig hinted she'd like a log cake, but wasn't sure if she should ask knowing it would be quite an undertaking, I practically squealed in delight. I've always wanted to attempt a Bûche de Noël, and since my lovely mother gave me Baked Explorations for my birthday I've been absolutely salivating at the chance to make their cooler more distinctly "Baked" take on this classic.

As I was slapping together the cake to take to this year's double whammy awesomeness annual Halloween party/Saints game madness, I realized that a year ago I was making my first decorated cake. I mean yes, there were cakes before last year, but that Nightmare Before Christmas cake marked a turning point when I actually put pen to paper and drafted up a sketch of one of the many crazy ideas flying around in my head and challenged myself to make it look the way I envisioned.

I look back on the past year and all of the late nights, crazy plans and disastrous messes with great fondness. It is so exciting to think about how quickly a year flies by and how we spend our time and who we share it with. It also makes me laugh at my own insanity and appreciate my husband so much more for putting up with me.

On more than one occasion, I've had someone feel bad when they picked up the cake and after the initial awestruck I can't believe you made this moment passes and they ask, "How late did you stay up working on this?" ....yea... Let me just put everyone at ease. While I can be an irrational and quite unpleasant person when I don't get my beauty rest, I'm actually part insomniac/total procrastinator and get some of my best work done under pressure at two in the morning.

Please enjoy this recap of some of the craziness I've whipped up in the middle of the night with the dog and cat watching and wondering what the hell daddy's going think when he wakes up and sees this mess... And make sure to check Crumby out on Facebook to keep up with what I'm working on.

White cake is the blank canvas of any cake decorator's arsenal of tools. Right up there with the always scrumptious yellow birthday cake and chocolate buttercream, white cake with white frosting may be the Plain Jane in a world where maple bacon cupcakes are all the rage, but true classics never lose their charm or appeal.

Whether you're a purist baker at heart, or a dreamer with lofty ideas of being your own Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes, this white cake recipe is a must for everyone. It can bring back that wonderful nostalgiac feel of licking the bowl with mom as a kid or it can be the basis for some wild modern creation. I know, I know--I say it all the time--but it truly has become one of my new favorites. Since I first tested it, I've made it into 4th of July Cupcakes, a totally 80s pimped out Goonies cake and a classic frosted cake to celebrate the Saints season opener against the Vikings, and it was everything I dreamed of every single delicious bite.