Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

With the enormous mountain of snow headed towards Kansas City right now, I couldn't be happier that one of the few things in my fridge is this cake.  It stares at me every time I open the refrigerator.  I want it for breakfast. I want it for lunch. I want it for dinner. And I want it for every snack in between.  Hey, its got carrots, walnuts, and raisins in it! How bad could it be??

eh? hello? 

Okay, so this isn't exactly your New Year's resolution cake... it's pretty far from it actually.  But it's incredible, and I can whole-heartedly say that you would be missing out on a wonderful piece of life if you didn't try this cake.  (I'm not one for dramatic statements... obviously).

If you are in the KC area and would like to get trapped in an apartment with a girl, her dog, and a carrot cake, my door is open.  Probably not for long though... I think I can hear the snow coming and the path of destruction trailing it. 

(My cousin, Kristin, took this photo! Fabulous!)

You can find the recipe here! SmittenKitchen made cupcakes instead of the two-layered cake... an absolutely fantastic idea.  I opted for the two-layered cake as they are just too fun to make. Do try the cupcake idea though and let me know how it goes!

If you don't hear from me in a week, please come shovel me out of my apartment. 

And bring carrot cake!

Chicken and Dumplings

Sorry, my OCD is flaring up again.  I think I found a winner with this design though.  I feel comfortable in this.  This is pretty.  I love this.

The delicious things you see above are French macarons (yes, I spelled that right), and you can buy them at my new favorite store, Natasha's Mulberry & Mott.  It's beautiful and quaint.  I pretended like I was in Paris when I went there.  You should too.

By the way, you can thank my dear friend, Jane, for the new blog title.  She is oh-so-creative and witty. She happened to have started an oh-so-creative and witty blog chronicling her move to a new city. You should check it out.

(Side note: the url address for this blog changed... take note).

I'm getting awfully bossy with this post so far.  I apologize.

Let's talk about Chicken and Dumplings.

(Side note 2: I made this recipe instead of studying about cholesterol-lowering drugs like a good med student would have been doing.  Irony? yes.  I don't think my nutrition professor would be pleased about what's been happening on this blog lately).

Chicken and Dumplings, how I adore you.

This recipe, how I adore you even more.

This recipe was more time consuming than the average recipe on this blog but still equally, if not more, delicious.  With the possible "winter precipitation" headed towards KC on Monday, what could be more appetizing than chicken and dumplings? Better go get yourself some chicken.

Close up of raw chicken... yummm.

It says fat free! There, I won at something.

I would like to credit this photo to my mother.  She did a fantastic job. Kudos to you, mom. 

Delicious.  You can find the recipe here!

The dogs waiting for the left overs.  typical. 

Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret.

Not everyone knows this secret.

I only share this secret with the people I love.

It goes like this...

chocolate + banana = little piece of heaven on a plate.

Did you all know this?

A genius somewhere thought of this combination and I hope they are reaping all benefits of life right now.  I think chocolate + banana might just be the secret to life.  Could I be anymore dramatic? Can we please talk about the deliciousness that is about to ensue?

You're going to need some dark, sinister-looking bananas.

Bananas that only fruit flies (and my mother) will touch.

You're going to want to mash up those nanners and make the bread...

This recipe was actually just for a banana bread that was fancied up and baked in a bundt pan.  Seeing as how I can't leave well enough alone, I added the chocolate ganache to it.  I'm glad I did too, as this recipe turned out more like a cake rather than a bread.  So, banana cake with chocolate ganache it was.

Like I said earlier, I think I found the meaning of life with this cake.  If you would like some, you're probably just going to have to make your own.  My cake seems to be missing...

gulp.

You can find the banana bread recipe here!

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Ganache:
(The easiest, most delightful thing on this planet. I'm sure of it.)

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Finely chop the chocolate and pour it into a bowl
Heat the cream till boiling
Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.
Pour the ganache over whatever you please... Just be sure to lick all remnants of the ganache off of your fingers before proceeding.  It's the right thing to do.

Creamy Garlic Tomato Soup

Remember when I had that quasi- snow day about a week ago? Well, I made this soup that day.  And it was fantastic. The end.

Okay it's not really the end, but there really isn't much to say about this soup. It is absolutely terrific and must be made immediately.  It's one of those feel-good soups that should be accompanied with a blanket, a fire, and snow outside. And maybe followed up with some hot cocoa.  Because that's what I did.  And it was fantastic. The end.

Recipe adapted from here!

4 cans tomato sauce (8 oz cans)

1 whole small white onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup milk

4 oz cream cheese cut into cubes

1 tsp dried basil*

Salt and Pepper to taste*

*I added these seasonings to give the recipe a little more complexity but the original recipe did not include them.  Add them to your own taste level!

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the sauce and onion.  Let simmer for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic.  Let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the milk and cream cheese, stirring well.  Mix with a whisk to break up and melt the cheese.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Keep soup over low heat until you're ready to eat!

Snow Day

Sorry I've been lacking on the posts... We had a midterm today, so my life has revolved around med school and med school only.  Midterms are bittersweet... you study like crazy for a week but then you get a free afternoon when you finish the midterm!

Last Monday, Kansas City was graced with a beautiful snow! While the working adults and med students didn't get a day off, all of the schools in the area were closed (hmmph). Because of this, I'm calling it a snow day.  In leiu of posting an oh- so-yummy recipe (check back later this week!), I'm going to show you a few of my pictures from the snow day! 

Turns out, Wilson loves snow. 

Wilson is also terrified of bridges.  We have to carry him across the one in our neighborhood.

How crazy huge is this icicle??

Julia Child's Cinnamon Toast Flan

As sad as it is, this is the first recipe of Julia Child's that I've made. Being the true inspiration for this blog, one would think her recipes would be highlighted a bit more.  However, her recipes are somewhat.... difficult. She did "master the art of French cooking" after all...

This recipe is for a bread pudding.

How difficult could a bread pudding be?? When I first read the ingredients, I was delightfully surprised at the simplicity of them.  And then I read the instructions and was brought back down to reality.  Yup... her recipes are tough.  Who would have thought you had to whisk egg yolks to yield the perfect "yellow ribbon".  What exactly is a yellow ribbon of eggs supposed to look like??

I whisked them until I thought they looked right. That's usually not a good idea (unless you're Julia Child, of course).

Did you know you had to make a custard to add to the bread slices before you actually baked everything? I was always under the impression you could add all of the ingredients at once and watch the magic happen.  Apparently things don't work like that in France.

The one easy part was making cinnamon toast.  Yeah, I can do that.  Although, the recipe said to broil the cinnamon sugar topped bread.

I'm going to be honest for a second....Please don't judge.

I'm still a little lost on what exactly broiling is...

Okay, I said it.  Moving on.

Needless to say, I ignored that pesky word, "broil", and just put the toast on a cookie sheet.

In the end, cinnamon toast is cinnamon toast.  Regardless of the path it took.

Now, for someone who is extremely impatient and has never made a custard before, this was the frustrating part.  When do I need to stop whisking it? How thick does it need to be?? Why do I need a sieve?? Is a sieve the same thing as a strainer? Is this supposed to be so dang clumpy? Why is this so difficult?!

Let me tell you, this recipe was a challenge.  I highly recommend trying it though. It is Julia Child after all. I found it to be a bit too mushy for my taste, so next time I'm going to skip the hot water bath that the dish had to sit in.  The part of the dish that sat in the water during baking turned out a lot less thickened than the rest of it.  It still satisfies the sweet tooth and with a little tweaking (and improving of cooking skills), this recipe could be très bonne!

I'm sorry to do this to you, but I just can't resist....

I'm trying to show restraint with these Wilson pictures, but so far, not so good.

p.s... you can get the recipe here!