caramel caramel yumyum

I made my very own caramel sauce for the first time ever! And I was especially happy that it worked out on my first try (very unexpected). I used the tutorial at Bakers Royale, which was SO helpful. It has step-by-step carmeling instructions and even a color chart so you know exactly when the caramel is ready. I ended up having to use a bit more cream than the recipe calls for (high altitude funkiness rears its ugly head again?), and I also added several grinds of sea salt to evolve caramel into its hipper, more exciting form: salted caramel. 

I plan to use this delicious magic sugarsauce for my friend's birthday on Tuesday, in a recipe that is currently developing in my head but will most likely be based in a molten chocolate cake. Stay tuned.

Apologies and Strawberry Cake

Hello, all! Yes, it's been a super long time. I'm sorry, ok? Seriously.
So what have I been doing? Going to school mostly, baking and cooking, hanging out with my cat, you know, the usual stuff.

I wanted to share with you all an incredible cake that I made for my little sister's birthday (which was November 2. I get it! It's been a long time!). It's a strawberry cake, because that's her favorite. I searched the internet for a while trying to find the perfect strawberry cake recipe, and ended up choosing this one, by Heather Baird of SprinkleBakes (I love SprinkleBakes)!

I modified it a bit, of course. The recipe calls for strawberry puree, but I just kind of made my own by putting strawberry preserves in the ol' food processor, and adding water a teaspoon at a time until it reached the consistency that I wanted. Since I bake at high altitude where everything is bone dry and crazy it's a little hard for me to suggest modified liquid amounts with any more clarity than just "until you reach a good consistency" or "you'll know when it's the right amount." I fear this is also a habit I've inherited from reading the handwritten Swedish and Finnish recipes translated by my grandmother that say things like "add an appropriate amount of this" or "add as much of this as you think is right" or "keep adding this until it feels like enough." I also left the white chocolate shavings out of the frosting because I really wanted to keep the cake a bit sour, not too sweet. That also explains why I chose this particular cake, the cream cheese frosting, duh!

So Happy Birthday, Mia (several months ago)! 

Check out "Pretty Wolves" by D/Wolves, an awesome band fronted by Joel Williams (who happens to be the little brother of Wavves' Nathan Williams). 

Margaritas!

Summer is the perfect excuse to drink, as my friend Alex calls them, "top shelf margs". And we have been drinking a lot of top shelf margs. Here's my favorite recipe, which is super easy to make, and uses a frozen limeade can to measure everything.

First, gather:
Triple Sec
Tequila
Frozen limeade
Limes
Ice

Put the whole can of frozen limeade into the blender, add a quarter can water, a quarter can triple sec, and a half can tequila. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime, then toss in some ice. Blend it up! Coat the rim of your cup in lime juice, dip it into kosher salt, and fill with delicious, delicious margarita. Enjoy, ideally, with chips and guac. 

Artist Feature: Hellen Jo

I am really obsessed with Hellen Jo, self-described "asshole living and working in Burbank". She does awesome drawings of badass chicks, among other stuff, and says she's "informed mostly by alternative comics and midcentury as well as modern illustration".

"Bay Area Native", inspired by the Daniel Johnston song, “Devil Town”.

"Pool Skate"

Oh yeah, she also made this Crash & the Boys poster, so really, what more do you want?

Spring Break: Chicago

I went, on a total whim, to Chicago for Spring Break last week. I got to see old friends, the Art Institute, and just make a general escape from Colorado Springs for a few days. It was incredibly and shockingly hot for Chicago in March, I was in shorts the whole week! I got to see my friend Ben, aka Constant Smiles, play a show at this neat venue/loft/recording studio/some guys' house called The Observatory. In between sets, everyone went up to the roof for cigarettes and an incredible view of the Chicago skyline. You can actually find a recording of the show on Ben's website, the album is "Live, right straight from the grave."

Stage/bar at The Observatory

I saw some awesome things at the Art Institute, which is one of my favorite museums because of their extensive Impressionism collection, and bangin' modern art wing.

chairs and lights in the modern wing.

Surprise! It's an awesome Magritte.

Joseph Cornell

The basement had an awesome textiles exhibit, featuring hilarious and incredible samplers like this one, "wrought by Clarissa Emerson, aged 14."

Overall it was a great trip, and I was sad to come home, as I always am when I leave a city.
I will sign off with Ben's cat, Lolita, my new love. (cats can't read, so Marcel won't be offended by my feline infidelity.)

Cat Shoes

For obvious reasons, I have been coveting Alexa Chung's favorite shoes, these Charlotte Olympia kitty flats. She wears them everywhere, and I would too, if they weren't Charlotte Olympia, and therefor $400.

So, as anyone DIY obsessed would, I thought to myself: I'm going to make them. And it was super easy, and super worth it. I bought plain black suede flats from H&M, embroidered the faces, and sewed on some felt ears. I think they came out awesome.

These are mine!